Silver Spoon
by NovaStars42
Summary: Sasuke is a homeless young adult until a billionaire buisness woman picks him up and takes him under her wing, tangling him up in her web of cheating, lies and fraud. Was the money ever really worth it? [Inspired by the ENRON and Stratten Oakmont scandals]
1. Chapter 1:Act as if you're a wealthy man

Warning: this story contains illegal activity and people with questionable ethics. It makes an interesting story, but I do not condone any of the following.

* * *

Sasuke stepped out into the street, pulling his hood up to deflect the rain from his charcoal hair. He shoved his hands in his pocket after throwing the wrapper to his dinner in the trash, leaving the fast food joint to try again to disappear into the night.

He was cold, wet, but at least he wasn't as hungry. After ten nights away from home, Sasuke desperately needed a shower, but he supposed there wasn't a chance of that tonight. At least the city lights were bright, he mused. Neon lit his way down town as he strolled down the sidewalk, buildings towering over him. He felt claustrophobic and exposed at the same time, but there was yet again, nothing he could do.

A car went by, splashing him with cold, dirty water from a large puddle, going over his head and soaking his clothes before the car's tail lights blended in with the others and disappeared.

"Great," he muttered, wiping his face with his partially dry sleeve.

From the corner of his eye he watched another car pull up, not bothering to turn on its four ways as it stopped in the middle of the street and rolled down the window.

"Hey! Where you headed?" A woman's voice shouted. He didn't have time to respond before a car, lying on its horn, went around them. "Hey, fuck you!" The woman shouted, flipping off the other driver. Sasuke got a look at her as she was distracted. This woman had long hair the same color as his, and wore a man's blazer but a woman's low cut, red wine colored blouse. She wore sunglasses even though it was night. "You gonna get in the car kid or do I gotta beg?" The woman shouted, flipping off yet another driver flying by.

"No thanks," Sasuke said, waving her on. He wasn't sure if she thought he was a prostitute or if she was just being friendly, but either way he was not interested, and began walking.

"Come on! I've seen you here every day this week, your homeless right?" She shouted, flipping on her four ways this time as the car crept forward.

"I'm not, in fact I'm headed home right now," Sasuke tried again to get rid of her, but she saw straight through his lie.

"Where's that? Main and thirty fourth?" She asked, a cocky grin set on her face. Main and thirty fourth was probably the worst corner fourth was a heinous place where criminals ran rough. "You're gonna get eaten alive out here kid, let's go, I don't have all night!" Reluctantly, Sasuke got in, sighing and shaking his head.

The interior of the car was nice, put together with wood and black leather. Only the dash glowed with light after he shut the door, he sank into heated seats that he quickly discovered were heated. The radio quietly played rap music as the car's driver reached to turn the heat on.

"Cold?" She asked, and she already knew the answer with that sly smirk set on her features. Sasuke nodded, looking out the window as the heat kicked on.

"Where you headed?" She asked, lowering her sunglasses down her nose to look over them, as if she had some kind of authority over him.

"Nowhere," the kid muttered, looking down at his dirty hands.

"My house it is, hold on," she replied, and slammed on the gas, cutting off two other drivers and running a red light before she reached top speed at sixty, barreling down the four lane road to the highway where she increased her speed again to ninety-five, cutting off more drivers and ignoring more traffic laws than were on the books. Once on the highway, she cranked the radio, a song by Kanye shaking the windows and threatening to kill the car's sound system as it shook with bass.

The car itself had remained incredibly quiet up until then, no road noise, and running his hand down the door panel, he realized he was riding in a very expensive car. a Jaguar, maybe? It was probably one of next year's new release models. Moments later they were off the highway, sliding down a street of expensive housing and into a driveway to a house made of stone. She motioned for him to come on, shutting the car off and locking it as they made their way up the front steps.

The house was large, incredibly large, for a city household and incredibly stylish, the new construction had apparently had very heavy modern influences. At ten at night, the neighborhood was quiet, a lot of the lights had already been shut off and people were inside. The rain had stopped but the smell of it was still lingering in the air. They escaped inside before any more chill could catch Sasuke's wet cloths.

She hadn't even needed her keys, the door was unlocked. As she let him in, she flicked on the lights, revealing a living space and a large spiral staircase. The furniture was white and the walls painted a chic gray, accented with pink roses and spiraling vines. The entire back of the house was made of glass and overlooked the city, and coming closer to the window panes, Sasuke realized this woman was more than he'd originally thought her to be. The flooring was clean, freshly waxed and without flaw, a staircase lead up to another two floors and a hall lead down to a kitchen. This woman didn't cut corners in her decorating, the house had a consistent, chic style that ran throughout and a color scheme of blues, oranges and whites to die for. Sasuke wasn't exactly sure what the temperature was in here, but it had to be near eighty, and he was thankful. He also thought maybe he, only vaguely, smelled spice and cider.

"My housekeeper is on her way to get you some alternate clothing, want something to eat or drink?" She asked, handing him a water bottle anyway. Having lost her sunglasses in her short trip out of his sight, he could see the color of her eyes now, a deep, dark chocolate, so dark, they almost looked black. "Like the house?" She was quick to follow up, "old money, my friend, not to mention, I own K.M.A corp," she boasted, obviously confident in herself. Wasn't she worried he'd steal from her? It was quite clear this woman was loaded, K.M.A corp was not only the largest company in the area, but it also had the largest presence, occupying the second tallest building downtown, beat out only by a radio tower.

"It's a lovely house," Sasuke remarked, looking up to study a chandelier overhead. Lovely didn't begin to explain it. The lady that'd brought him here went into a long winded speech about her father and a divorce which yielded her even more money which she used to start the corporation, trading penny stocks and investing in various fields, including energy, medicine and agriculture. She hadn't been too far into the company history when her maid approached, carrying a bag with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt inside as promised.

"If you'd come with me," the red headed girl said politely, a soft blush dusting her cheeks. She was shorter than him, by a lot, and her pink glasses framed her face nicer than her strangely styled long hair, she wore it long, with some sort of gel spiking up a few strands near her shoulders. She escorted him down a hallway to an immaculate bathroom where he was instructed to take a shower, change and hand over his cloths to be washed. Sasuke did exactly that, scrubbing his skin, his hair and his worries clean. For tonight he was safe at least. When he returned, the strange woman was watching a baseball game.

"Hey kid," she greeted, "come watch this with me, I got a bet on the game." She patted the couch next to herself, smiling and looking quite friendly with her legs folded up under her. Sasuke obliged, though for the second time that night he felt claustrophobic. "You know how this works? He throws the ball and if the other guy hits it, they got everything between the bases to get him out," she babbled. Sasuke knew how it worked, but he didn't want to be rude. They watched a while longer, her explaining little things he already knew until something surprising happened. The man standing on third base was quick, and Sasuke was sure he'd make it to home plate, but as a ball was hit into to left field, the man took off, suddenly tripping and giving the other team enough time to throw the ball around and get him out. The stands erupted and Sasuke realized that had broke a tied game. "Yes! Yes!" The women yelled, and not three seconds later phones began to ring. The maid got both of the house lines, and the woman started pulling cell phone after cell phone out of her pockets to answer them, chattering on and on about the game, money, and some name calling. "Here," she said, handing him a large disposable phone, "answer that and tell them they'd better have the money tomorrow, say that every time it rings," and then she stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Sasuke sort of puzzled.

"Hello?" He answered tentatively.

"The dog got the bone," a man's voice came over the speaker, and it was clear it was code, but what it meant Sasuke had no idea.

"They'd better have the money tomorrow," Sasuke repeated, exactly as it had been told to him. The man on the other end grunted and then hung up, but no sooner was he off the line did it ring again. The more times he retreated himself, the more times he heard strangers telling him that a dog got a bone, the more Sasuke realized he was in over his head with this. He didn't know what he was getting involved with and he didn't want to know. Eventually, when the phones stopped ringing and the woman that brought him here returned from wherever she had gone, he stood up.

"I really should be going, thank you for your hospitality," Sasuke tried to be polite, as polite as he could to avoid this woman's bad side. He suspected organized crime, and he suspected he was in trouble.

"Oh? What for? Come on! Stay the night!" She urged, but Sasuke shook his head and held out the phone for her to take. She looked between him and the phone before she burst out laughing, holding her stomach and nearly doubled over.

"Oh god! You probably think I'm a mafia boss or something! Oh God no! No, I swear it was just a harmless little bet on the game. No harm done, you're not in any danger," she reassured, using his shoulder to push him back down on the couch as she took her spot back up. She whipped a tear from her eye and laughed a little more, asking her maid to bring some chips for her and her guest.

"How old are you anyway kid? Oh, wait, what's your name? I can't just keep calling you kid, can I?" She asked, stifling a few more giggles.

"Sasuke, I'm nineteen," the boy replied, running a hand through his bangs. The maid brought the food in two separate bowls and the woman dug in.

"What's a young kid like you doing on the streets? Your mom a whore or something?" She asked, mouth full.

"No," he answered. He wasn't sure why he was telling her anything, she didn't need to know, it was his business and his business alone. She nodded.

"Kazuki Takashiro," she replied, holding out a hand for him to shake, "call me Jordan."

He shook it, and she continued talking.

"I'm in need of an assistant Sasuke, what do you say? You can live here and you'll go to work with me in the mornings." Sasuke couldn't understand why she was interested in him, a kid she'd picked off the street three hours ago, how could she trust him? As if she could read minds she answered him.

"I need somebody young, somebody I can teach the way I want them taught. Young kids like you are perfect, no college education feeding them with useless junk, I bet you're still in high school right?" She nodded, a smile spread on her face, "you look innocent, you look smooth, and you're a need to know kinda guy, it's perfect." Sasuke still wasn't sure. He supposed a job was the first thing he needed if he wanted to get off the streets, not to mention it was late fall and cold. He brought his bottle of water to his lips, taking a drink give himself a second to think.

"You're going to be making six figures," she sneered, and Sasuke almost spat out his drink.

* * *

The next morning Sasuke dressed in a pair of dress slacks and a blazer he'd been presented with. The maid had brought them from Jordan's closet, and at first he'd been resistant. These were women's clothes, but they fit surprisingly well and didn't look bad on. He'd also borrowed a starched white shirt from his new housemate and standing in front of the mirror, he compared now to last night when he wore a dirty hoodie and a pair of ripped jeans.

Wandering down the hall he found Jordan stepping out of her room, dressed much the same way. She carried two ties, one she put over her own neck, a navy blue and decorated with roses, and a plain red tie, which she handed to him.

"I can't tie a tie," he replied, but she only smiled and looped it around his head for him.

"I guess I'll be teaching you a lot more than I thought hm?" She asked, making a knot and pulling it tight around his neck, "come on, we've got to get to work," she pulled away before she could see him blush.

"Karin!" Jordan screamed though the house, "you're gonna run to the store today and pick up some cloths for Sasuke!"

"Yes ma'am," the red haired girl responded, peeking around a wall her hair tied up and a jug of bleach in her hand.

"Good girl," Jordan smirked, giving the girl a hug before she left for work. He would later find out that Karin came from less than he had, Jordan had found her after she'd been kicked out of her parents house and taken her home. The girl hadn't cared for business, and that was fine as long as the house stayed clean. Besides, it kept the both of them from living alone.

The car was in the same place they left it, and nothing in the cool fall morning looked out of place. Jordan drove much the same way as she had the previous night, but Sasuke was prepared. What he wasn't prepared for was the jerk they took to the right, almost unseating him as she drifted the car into a parking garage. She raced up three levels before slamming on the brakes. A young man ran from a valet booth and Jordan motioned for Sasuke to get out and they left the garage to go inside.

A man opened the front doors for them and people parted to keep from Jordan's way. Girls smiled at him and men glowered in jealousy, all eyes were on him, and he hated it. They took a glass elevator up, passing floor after floor of people working until they reached the top office.

The floors were white marble and the walls to the outside were made of glass. A receptionists desk sat in the middle of the room and beyond it was a pair of white french doors. Behind the doors was Jordan's office, large, rectangular and bright, the walls as bleach white as the flooring. An executive desk sat in the back of the room, a Victorian style, floral printed chair sat behind that.

"You're going to be observing a meeting today," Jordan smirked, pulling the chair out for him and pushing it in once he was seated. She draped her arms around his shoulders and instructed him to flick on the computer, leaning on him and the back of the chair for support. Did she have a problem with personal space or did she do this simply to make him nervous?

"Send an email to the first ten names on the list," she instructed and he did just that. He pulled herself off of him and rummaged through a desk drawer until she found a pen and a pad of paper.

"Take some notes okay?"

He nodded and a large table was wheeled into the room not a second later, butting up against the desk, and chairs brought in after, filling the room. A while later nine men filed into the room, dressed similar to himself. Jordan kicked him out of the desk, asking him to sit in the closest chair to her right. A red haired man sat across from him, thin and sickly looking, Sasuke thought him to be anemic, or deficient in something at least. This man carried nothing with him, and sat straight in the chair.

Another man sat to his right, tall and dark skinned, he had a deep voice that commanded respect and a judgmental gaze that always seemed to settle on Jordan. He had a large presence and spread out, forcing him closer to Jordan and sandwiching him between the desk and the larger man.

The last man of interest had very premature grey hair, silver almost, and a scar over his eye. He looked cheerful in a sad sort of way, his blazer jacket the color of his hair. Within the man's things, Sasuke swore he'd seen one of those erotic novels, but it was quickly shoved away into a leather bag, so he couldn't have been sure.

There was no time for pleasantries, Jordan commanded the meeting to begin right away. The tan skinned man stood up, cleared his throat and began speaking.

"So, the numbers on the expense reports I sent you are less than satisfactory. As you all know, expenses are subtracted from the overall worth of our company. To get more people to invest, we need to look better, and to do that, this debt needs to go away, and it needs to stay away," he finished, seating himself and pulling out a pen to take down ideas.

"And just how do you recommend we do that Kakuzu?"'the red haired man asked, "everyone incurs debt, even if you're just out for lunch."

"If I knew we wouldn't be having a meeting," Kakuzu sneered, seemingly discussed.

"It's not like we can just sell the debt like a mortgage, investors will see that too," the silver haired man pointed out, earning a groan.

"Just what else is there?" The red haired man spat.

"Sell it to ourselves!" Jordan piped up.

"How?"

"Very, very simple Nagato," it was Jordan's turn to sneer, "make somebody up! Somebody that works for us that isn't on payroll, we'll hide them in paperwork. We'll call him M. Yass."

"M. Yass?" Kakuzu echoed.

"Yeah! My ass!" She shouted, and the conference room burst into laughter. Kakuzu copied down a few things and the men spoke a while longer about the baseball game the previous night.

"That's why they pay me the big bucks," Jordan smirked, leaning over as the room emptied out. The maintenance men returned and took away the table and brought him the mate to the Victorian chair Jordan sat in. She asked for his notes and started reading them after he handed them over.

"See what I just did there?" She asked, a rhetorical question as always, nose down reading, " I weaseled the system around to fit my needs. A good businessman always will. Let me show you something else, this is the most important thing I'm ever going to show you."

Sasuke came around the desk to watch her pull a thin drawer out, a paper shredder built into it, and pull the waste paper basket from under the desk. She then promptly fed the small page of notes into the shredder and they were gone in seconds.

"Never, ever let anything from this room outside," she instructed, a very stern look set on her features, "shred everything, and if you don't want it stolen, don't put it in an email."

"But isn't all this, I don't know, illegal? Or at least unethical?" Sasuke thought to ask, walking around to sit down back in his chair.

"Of course it's unethical, it's also partially illegal, but no one will ever figure it out, can't be getting in trouble now can we?" Jordan leered, a strange smile on her lips.

"Just because you don't get in trouble doesn't make it right," Sasuke pointed out, she laughed.

"Hoe," she muttered, giggling and looking down to type up an email, send it and put her trash basket back in place.

"Knowing right from wrong makes me a hoe? Why's that?" Sasuke asked again, tilting his head a little in attempt to loosen his tie. He was losing patience.

"Ohh! No reason, I'm just kidding with you," she laughed, leaning back in her chair, "but really, there are two kinds of people in this world Sasuke. Those that make the money and everybody else that works for them. Which do you want to be?"

* * *

Dinner that night was peaceful. The formal dining room behind the living room, a hallway connecting the two with the kitchen. Karin had made some kind of pasta and set the table with a beautiful China set decorated with roses. Sasuke wasn't surprised, the entire house was roses.

The dish was very simple, and dinner didn't last long, allowing Sasuke to retire to his room for a little peace. He had a television mounted on the wall, a on demand movie program, and soda, meaning there wasn't a reason for him to leave the room again. He was in the middle of an action movie when something in the next room fell onto the floor and distracted him. He would have passed it off if he hadn't heard Jordan screaming.

He opened the door just in time to see a man walk down the hall, shirt unbuttoned and pants slung haphazardly onto his hips, and Jordan behind him screaming profanities, wrapped only in a white sheet.

"And don't you dare show up to work tomorrow!" Jordan screeched. She huffed then and pulled the sheet up closer to herself after noticing Sasuke.

"Sorry about that," she smiled, "go back to bed kid, it's nothing."

The raven haired boy cocked an eyebrow. She didn't even seem bothered that he'd caught her after sex with a mysterious man from work. He was about to turn and leave when he heard her footsteps coming to stop him.

"I'm sorry, I really am," she murmured, her default smile spread on her face, "I'm glad you're here to put up with me."

"It's fine," he returned. His first instinct was to back off, he wanted to just go back inside and lay back down but she had other ideas. Jordan wrapped him into a loose hug, putting both her hands on his back and pressing her face into his chest. Sasuke felt obligated to return the hug, he'd been raised with good manners, so even though he didn't want to, he wrapped his arms around her too. She was warm and the sheet felt smooth, much to his surprise, but it only took a few seconds for him to realize he wasn't touching the sheet, he was touching the bare skin of her mid back.

"The sheet fell," she giggled and pulled away, folding her left arm to shield her breasts, "remember, eyes are up here," she smirked, putting her finger under his chin to tilt his head up.

"Sorry about this too," she laughed, harder than she should have as she picked up the sheet, "okay, well, I'm going to get some cloths on and make tea, wanna join me? "

Sasuke wanted to say no, but she cut him off before he could so much as speak.

"Oh, come on, go sit at the table I'll be out in just a second," she insisted, so he took his not so happy ass to the dining room. When Jordan joined him, she'd found a pair of pink pajama pants and an old t-shirt he suspected had belonged to her ex-husband, seeing as it hung off of her like it would a clothesline. She spent some time making the tea and set his in front of him.

"Big surprise right? The cups match the everything?" She giggled, and in fact the cups were also decorated with roses.

"I like roses. There's so many different kinds that symbolize so many different things. Do you know what this light pink means?" She asked, thumbing over a beautiful blooming rose on the cup, her finger reddening with the temperature of the porcelain.

Of course Sasuke did not.

"A lot of people say it means admiration, but do you know what admiration really is? It's lust. Pink roses are my favorite, and they should be your favorite too," she sneered, taking a drink of her tea. He was sure she burned her tongue.

"Why do you say admiration is lust?" Sasuke asked, looking up from his steaming cup.

"Because when you see something beautiful, do you think 'my gosh how lovely!' Or do you think, 'my gosh! I want it!'? You're human, you say the later, maybe not right away, it might take you years, but one day, you find yourself remembering it and you always do remember it," she mused.

Jordan talked a lot but spoke very little. She was social and friendly, but crewel all the same. She seemed so unsuspecting, she smiled all the time, because what did she have to be sad about? But seconds later she'd be running around the law and commanding a group of men, no, a company, twice her size. Whatever she wanted, she got.

"Even more so, Americans equate beauty with want. I don't want to look at a new house unless I want one, I don't want to look at flowers unless I can buy them. People don't speak beauty to appreciate it, they seek it to buy it. People don't want to admire things, they just want them, and that is lust."

Sasuke considered it all for a moment and giving it time to sink in and think about it before he spoke, "I disagree."

She raised her eyebrows, as if to provoke him to speak.

"Just because I can appreciate snake skin doesn't mean I want a snake," he pointed out, but she only shrugged her shoulders.

"You'll understand, eventually," she said flatly, taking another sip of her tea. It wasn't that he didn't understand, he didn't agree, but keeping his mouth shut was better than telling her that.

It was his turn to sip his tea, letting silence settle over the dimly lit home.

"You remember Kakuzu from the meeting?" She asked, rhetorically this time, "would it be okay if I set you up to work with him tomorrow? I need to do something outside the office."

"That's fine," he returned, knowing she'd already done it. He didn't want to, but now he had no choice. Chalk it up to experience he decided.

"Try and leave me out of conversation, okay kiddo? He's my ex-husband, and he's still pretty sore about the 'ex' part," she laughed, downed the rest of her tea and took care of her cup. She returned briefly to give him a tight hug from behind, pressing her breasts into his back and letting her fingers linger on his chest. Her last move was to give him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, and then she was gone, leaving him to wipe the saliva from his skin.

Jesus, she irked him! This was all fine and dandy but the streets had been far less annoying than his housemate. She was forward, loud and overly affectionate, not to mention all the annoying questions she answered herself. Why bother? Why would be so touchy feely with him? Unless...

Of course girls in his school years had thrown themselves at his feet, asking for him for a date, a relationship and so on, but Jordan wasn't asking. Jordan was telling him. And he was completely uninterested in all of it.

Sasuke finished his tea and took care of his cup, almost fallowing in her foot steps as he made his way to her door. No light shone from the crack underneath. He took a hold of the knob softly, not wanting it wake her but he seriously doubted she was asleep. Slowly and without sound, he turned the handle and found it unlocked. She was waiting for him inside, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. With a smirk, he headed back to his own room and locking his own door.


	2. Chapter 2: Rich Already

Kakuzu's office was clean and quiet. It was starch white and simple accented with silver and black. The desk sat in front of a wall of windows to the outside and another on the inside, in direct line of view though a glass wall was the company's accounting division. A cube farm filled with busy people working on finance.

Kakuzu was stoic and if Sasuke had somewhere else to be he'd go. But he didn't, so he sat in Jordan's look alike chair in the corner of the room while the older man glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"So I'll humor you, you little ankle biter," the gruff man almost seethed, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, Jordan," he started but the older man cut him off.

"That's not what I mean and you know it," Kakuzu snapped and Sasuke did know it.

"What the hell are you doing with her all of a sudden? So help me if you're crawling around trying to screw her in any sense of the word," the tan skinned man threatened. He narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, starting the boy down. Sasuke was unfazed if not slightly offended. Just who the fuck did this guy think he was talking to him like that? He kept on with features set in stone, unwavering and emotionless.

"Wait, hold on," the man chuckled suddenly, the corners of his lips threatening to turn upwards, his entire demeanor changing, "your just a little lap dog aren't you? Just like Karin."

It was Sasuke's turn to narrow his eyes. What had he just called him?

"Go on you little pest, go find something else to hold your interest," Kakuzu continued, blowing him off as if he'd been nothing more than an ant. The head accountant turned back to his computer and pulled up an email file, choosing to ignore the kid completely. Kakuzu might have been a lot of things, but he was not a baby sitter. Before Sasuke could leave the room the silver haired man from the meeting knocked on the door before letting himself in.

"Director? I'm here that file, if you would," he grinned, the scar over his eye looking particularly prominent in the sunlight with his pale skin.

"Don't 'director' me you asshole," Kakuzu growled, pulling an envelope from his drawer and throwing into onto his desk. The dark skinned man was like a rattlesnake, Jordan must have been the snake charmer.

"I was simply trying to be respectful," the stranger informed him, his emotion looking forced now, "you are the accounting division director."

"Id like to direct you to the door," the accountant hissed, "and take this little rug-rat with you."

"Id be happy to, " the man grinned, more out of spite now. Sasuke left the office with the silver haired man, following him to the elevators where they descended to the eighth floor. "It's nice to meet you," the silver haired man said, emotionless and flat toned, "I'm Kakashi. I'm head of filing."

"Sasuke," the younger replied in much the same tone. Absentmindedly, he wondered why a company this large needed filing personnel, wasn't it more efficient to use computers?

They arrived at the eighth floor and stepped out, finding yet another door in the way. A quick scan on Kakashi's thumb print gave them access. The room was filled top to bottom with filing cabinets and shelves, all packed to the brim with envelopes and folders. A lone computer and industrial printer sat in the middle of it all.

"So if you haven't guessed this is the filing room, just for your reference the department is down a floor lower," Kakashi told him, mumbling something about him maybe needing that information someday. Kakashi looked over a a shelf and slipped the envelope he was carrying in between two red folders.

Sasuke didn't particularly care. He just wanted to be finished with this and go home with his check. He was sick of all these adults fucking with him and each other. Sasuke watched as Kakashi pulled another folder out of the shelf, looked it over and then pulled a big magic marker from his pocket and started drawing all over the papers inside. Narrowing his eyes and choosing to observe him instead of ask, Sasuke sat down at the desk. The computer glowed a bright blue with the email program and a sticky note was taped to the monitor with a set of numbers on it and last year's date.

"Maybe you should be doing this," Kakashi spoke suddenly, pulling Sasuke's attention, "black out all these dates and write those on it."

A piece of paper was presented to him, half finished, and the magic marker joined it. Sasuke looked between the page and the man before picking up the marker and the sticky note.

"What is this for?" Sasuke asked, skimming the page.

"Well this is a ledger, we're changing it a little," Kakashi grinned, caught now. He wasn't sure how much the kid knew or how much he should tell him, but he couldn't lie to Jordan's apprentice and he also couldn't tell the truth.

"This is more fraud?" Sasuke asked, suggesting to Kakashi that he was in on it.

"Well, not really, adjusting entries are allowed in the accounting system we use," Kakashi concluded, hoping the kid would leave it alone but he didn't.

"I don't believe you, explain the system," it was Sasuke's turn to command. Kakashi didn't want to speak. He liked this kid and he liked his job, the last thing he wanted to do was get himself fired from a company he was so loyal to. Now he had to pick the lesser of two evils, tell him, and get the entire firm in trouble if he blabbed, or don't tell him and keep his track record straight, but still take a risk. He didn't trust Sasuke in the least, because he was an outsider and because he was so close to Jordan.

"Well?" The ebony haired teen asked.

"Well, we post our journal entries from the accounting division, then our system files away the completed ledgers. I make adjustments as needed. Myself," Kakashi was curt and implied that the falsifying of the firm's transaction list was all his doing.

"What's a journal?" The boy asked, but Kakashi shook his head.

"That's a question for the accountants," the pale man sighed and made himself scarce in the sea of filing cabinets. Sasuke turned his attention down to the sheet in front of him, evaluating it and it's deeper meaning. This was illegal, he was sure, no matter what the crooked corporation said was included in their accounting system. This was very illegal. Sasuke picked up the marker, crossed out an entry that read March first, and wrote April sixteenth instead, removing it from that year's taxes. If this was regular practice, he supposed, then the benefits must outweigh the cost.

* * *

When Sasuke arrived home from work, he found Jordan sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea with Nagato, the red haired man from the meeting. Kakuzu had been forced to take him home since Jordan has dropped him off at work, not yet trusting him with her car, and the ebony haired teenager was not happy about it. The grouchy old man just wanted to pick fights it seemed, and Sasuke was the only one around.

Loosening his tie and taking off his jacket in the front room, Sasuke thought he could finally have a god damn second of peace and quiet.

"Uh, hi there," a feminine voice came, sultry and inviting, "I don't think I've formally introduced myself."

It was Karin.

"We already know each other's names," Sasuke pointed out sort of harshly in attempt to shake her. She wasn't going anywhere.

"That's alright," she giggled, "I'd like to know you better."

"And what, pray tell," Sasuke asked, kicking off his shoes and picking them up, "did you have in mind?"

"Last name basis maybe?" She smiled, holding out her hand to shake, "Uzumaki."

"Uchiha," the dark haired boy scowled, shaking her hand quickly before he trotted off to the kitchen and made himself busy making a sandwich, leaving Karin in a blushing puddle. He wasn't out of the woods yet though, Jordan ambushed him in the hallway, smiling and insisted she join him. She was better than Karin, he figured, so he let Jordan make him up a cup of tea and the sandwich, of course.

He went to the dinning room, thinking it was just going to be himself and his mentor, but instead he found Nagato, the red haired man from the meeting, still sitting at the table. As he sat down and Jordan brought him his food, he suddenly felt very childish under the older man's gaze. It reminded him vaguely of how it felt to be around his brother.

"Sasuke, you remember Nagato?" Jordan grinned, picking up the tea set's matching tea pot and pouring him a cup, careful not to spill it.

"Well, anyway," she continued in that rhetorical way she always did, "I thought it was important that you two meet formally. Sasuke, Nagato, Nagato, Sasuke! You both are very important to this organization. Sasuke, do you know what Nagato does?"

Sasuke wasn't given a chance to answer.

"Nagato makes sure things that need to get lost stay lost," Jordan grinned. It was a knowing, cat like grin that gave the indication there was more to it than she gave.

"Like people? The boy asked, raising an eyebrow. Jordan laughed but didn't disagree. Nagato suppressed a chuckle. Sasuke took a sip of his tea to buffer the awkward silence that was forming and he shot the adults an apathetic look. These were not adults, he took that back, Jordan was an overgrown child with money. He supposed Nagato was the same way.

"No, not like people. Well, usually not," Nagato grinned slyly. So he did get rid of people, the coy bastard. Sasuke shot him another look, but it was ignored.

"Well, anyway," Jordan continued, in the same exact way she already had, "Sasuke, I'm not sure if you realize or not, but you are my replacement. I'm afraid maybe one day I won't be able to...hm, how do I put this? Maybe I won't be able to do everything I want, so you'll be doing it for me."

"Are you sick?" Sasuke thought to ask. He remembered his grandfather telling him something vaguely of that nature when he'd gotten cancer all those years ago, and Sasuke worried for just a second that he might not have a place to go in the near future. Hold on, he'd be getting a paycheck, he'd have some money. Jordan shook her head, sighing and looking away with a small smile on her face. She smiled a lot but not like that. Maybe she was pregnant? Maybe she was going to jail...

"Anyway," she said for a third time, "how was work?"

"Fine," Sasuke muttered. He was still sort of pissed about Kakuzu, that fucking asshole, and Jordan could see that, but still she pried.

"What'd you do today?"

"Well, after that jerk you stuck me with told me off and glared daggers at me all morning, I left with this other man, Kakashi, and we worked in records," Sasuke replied. Actually his afternoon hadn't been half bad. Boring, but not bad. He took a bite of his sandwich and instantly regretted telling Jordan that when he looked back up.

"Oh! Nagato, he's committed his first fraud! I'm so proud!" Jordan gushed, this time the other man did chuckle.

"How should we celebrate? A party? A car? Oh! I know! Let's go on vacation! Hold on!" She shouted one last time, standing up from her seat in pure excitement, "a pet! Anything you want, I'll buy you a god damn lion if that's what you want!"

She tottered over to him, hugging him from behind while he was seated and kissing his cheek, just as sloppy as last time. He used the heal of his hand to wipe the saliva off his face as she continued yammering in his ear and heaved a deep sigh.

"Do you want a dog Sasuke? I saw an ad for dobermans in the paper, you know, Karin has a rabbit, maybe you'd like something small too? A cat maybe?" She rambled. Sasuke, truthfully, did not want a pet. He didn't want money, a car, none of that mattered to him. That disturbed him a little. What was it Sasuke wanted?

"A cat would be nice," Sasuke murmured. It'd make Jordan happy. That was important right? For other people to be happy?

"What kind of cat?" Jordan asked. Sasuke looked at her, waiting for her to continue speaking until he realized she'd asked a real question.

"I'm not sure," he mused, "maybe a Ragdoll?" He'd see one of those in a magazine once. Jordan clasped her hands together and started rambling again, and then sped off to another room to find him a kitten. Nagato followed shortly after her. At long last, he was alone. That was all he really wanted in the first place, but the longer he sat, staring at food he wasn't hungry for anymore the longer he realized he didn't actually like being alone. When Karin entered the room he tried to put on his best annoyed face, but he was actually relived.

"My friends and I are going to the mall, did you wanna go?" She beckoned, taking her glasses down her nose. He looked up at her, his expressionless face unmoving. He didn't want to go to the mall, no, but he also didn't want to stay home either. He could still hear Jordan in the other room, probably gushing over kittens on her tablet and Karin didn't seem quite as menacing as the red haired man that offed people professionally.

"Here," Karin said flatly, pulling a tiny white pill out of her fabric purse and dropping it into his tea, "takes the edge off."

So, hold on, let him just get this straight, not only had he been involved in fraud today, yesterday, and probably the day before with that baseball game, but now these people were offering him drugs?

"They came from Kakuzu, they're safe," Karin assured. Sasuke wasn't buying it. With his luck and distaste for the other man he'd wind up dead, but somewhere out front a car horn blared and some kind of whooping and hollering went on before Karin sighed something like 'imbecile' and stood up. Her friends were clearly here, and as he watched after her, he decided it was now or never. He downed his cup and had to jog to catch up to her.

Out front, a shiny, red Cadillac sat in the driveway. It was last year's model but cleaner than a rain drop. Karin opened the passenger door and let Sasuke in, giving him her coveted front seat spot to sit squished in the back. A white haired boy sitting in the driver's seat drinking what Sasuke hoped was a nonalcoholic beverage, another boy, well, hulk of a boy, sat in the back seat behind the driver, looking nervously out the window, and Sasuke was sure that this guy could probably crush his head in one hand. Lastly, scrunched between the towering brute and Karin was a blonde boy, yapping and bickering with Karin over elbow room.

"Cram it Naruto! Uh, Sasuke, these are my friends, Suigetsu," Karin piped up, the white haired boy opened his mouth to say something but the bickering drowned him out,

"Juugo, ah! Damn it!" she motioned to the bigger guy, and then slapped her hand over the annoying blonde's mouth to silence him, "and this is my idiot cousin Naruto."

She shrieked, apparently Naruto had licked her hand and that set them off again, but Suigetsu, fully prepared, cranked up a loud pop song on the radio and they sped off, squealing less tires than Jordan, but squealing tires none the less. Suigetsu was a far safer driver than anyone he'd driven with so far. He still sped, but at least he used his blinkers and got creative with using his horn.

"So what do you do? You live with Karin right? Must be pretty miserable," Suigetsu smirked, earning a smack to the back of the head. Sasuke had heard flesh meet skull over the music even and made a mental note to stay off of the receiving end of Karin.

"It's fine," Sasuke responded, "I work at K.M.A."

"Oh! You probably work with Jordan! Nice jugs right?" The white haired boy laughed, grabbing his drink to take another sip. Karin didn't hit him after that smart remark, she was too busy arguing with Naruto again, but she shouted at him to lay off. He didn't. Sasuke didn't dignify that with a response. Jordan was fine, so was the job, the house, Karin, everything. It was all just fine and Sasuke didn't want to talk about it.

"Quiet guy, okay," Suigetsu shrugged, "you and Juugo are gonna get along great."

"Hey, hey!" Caught Sasuke's attention, he turned his head just to meet face to face with Naruto, who was using his cousin's face as leverage to strain against this seat belt, "nice to meet you!"

Sasuke regarded him with a nod but said nothing yet again. The car ride wasn't awkward the rest of the way, Suigetsu kept it interesting with jabs at Karin and bad jokes while the Uzumaki cousins continued half wrestling in the back seat. It was almost as if he'd already been accepted into the group as the car whipped into a parking spot and joined another, larger group of teenagers inside the mall.

Rich kids, Sasuke surmised, were just like everyone else except with more money. That afternoon, he'd seen more cash than a bank kept in the vault spent on idiotic things. Expensive candles, band name cloths, entire game systems, frivolous things.

Karin and two other girls spent a half an hour trying on jeans just to buy the whole store out of three sizes, another boy with them, Choji, treated dinner in the food court at a place he'd checked out just for them, not to mention, they got away with some crazy stuff, one kid brought his big white dog in every store.

He'd followed Karin's lead and ordered Mexican, but looking down at the steaming plate, he still wasn't hungry. Maybe he could ask for a box.

"Your pretty cool Sasuke," a blonde girl giggled from across the table, Ino was her name, "what's your number? I'll text you."

Sasuke leaned back in his chair, sighed and looked at Karin for help. She was face first in a taco and offered him nothing. Ino turned to the pink haired girl seated next to her, Sakura he thought, and giggled, then they looked back at him and giggled. Oh god.

"I don't have a phone," he replied, and if he did he wouldn't give her anything.

"Oh! We'll get you one! Jordan's paying," Karin grinned, whipping hot sauce off her mouth with a shitty paper napkin. That was the opposite of help. So an hour later he found himself in a phone store, looking at phones more expensive than a steak dinner. Karin had encouraged him to pick any phone he wanted ( as long as it was high end ) and then made herself scared to look at cases. There was an employee nearby, and Sasuke asked for the phone nearest to him in black. It didn't matter which one he got, he didn't really care about having a phone anyway.

He loitered around the front desk while the mealy mouthed, blushing employee girl activated his phone and got together his contract papers, feeling bored and a little distressed. This was actually a lot to take in. So many new faces and names, he couldn't help but look forward to going home.

He leaned on the desk, pressing his lips into a thin line and looked out over the store. There was Naruto, flirting helplessly with Sakura while the lavender eyed girl that had a crush on him cowered behind her cousin. A dark head in the aisle behind them caught his attention.

"Sir, um, if you'll just sign this.." The girl behind the counter almost whimpered, grinning at him sheepishly.

"In a second," Sasuke rejected, quickly making his way through the store. It had to be him.

"Itachi," his voice quivered as he spoke. The man turned away from a common laptop used for college after hearing his name. It most definitely was him.

"Sasuke," the man murmured, coming closer to him quicker than he liked, "Sasuke, my god, where have you been?"

Evaluating his brother, Sasuke surmised, though he held the traditional Uchiha resting bitch face, he looked vaguely worried. Why Sasuke didn't know, his brother had run off to university on scholarship and left him in hell with a pair of alcoholics. Sasuke wasn't particularly happy with his brother at that moment, but he couldn't hardly ignore his presence.

"I got a job," Sasuke answered, his brother his weight shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Mother said you ran away," Itachi stated. It was a statement and only that.

"I got a job," Sasuke repeated. Okay, so, he'd gotten the job after he ran away, er, moved out, but Itachi didn't need to know that. He also didn't need to know where he was staying or who he was with. They looked strange, Sasuke would have put money on it, both standing, nervous and awkward, with an emotionless expression. They didn't hold conversation normal brothers.

"Okay," Itachi dismissed, not wanting to fight, "I'm home for a while. The university is having a problem in their finance department, there was a mix up."

Okay, so, Itachi wasn't going to college this semester. He was probably back home, to his knowledge his brother didn't have a job since he was studying.

"I," Sasuke started, but then paused, deciding to keep his mouth shut, "come visit me later."

Sasuke pulled a pen out of his pocket, left over from work, and wrote the corporation's address on his wrist. He'd see it so many times on paper today in records he had it memorized.

"Alright," his brother agreed, and they stood awkwardly for a few more seconds before he left, disappearing in the crowd of people leaving the mall. The shy woman standing at the desk was still waiting for him and he was beginning to want his phone, if only to contact his brother when the time came. He ordered a case with his name, sleek, black, with engraving on it and when he went to write "S. Uchiha", he deleted it and wrote "S. Takashiro" instead. He'd need a new name for starting a new life, wouldn't he?


	3. Chapter 3: Trade Off

Sasuke's phone had been buzzing all night with group texts. His phone had gotten passed around and he'd acquired more numbers than he'd thought there were people. His contacts and message folder were full to the brim.

Naruto wasn't bad, but he was annoying. Sasuke wasn't sure why he was still texting him, the blonde typed in all caps and used emoji emoticons far too much, but he was interesting to talk to. His family had a pet fox that Sasuke found himself getting hourly pictures of.

Suigetsu texted him a couple of times too, and be was alright too in that assholeish way he did things. He also got several messages from Ino and Sakura, which he promptly ignored.

He did eventually get to sleep though, and when he woke up, he dressed for work and went to find himself some breakfast.

Karin and Jordan were already at the table, drinking tea from monogramed mugs he'd never seen before. Food had already been laid out, pancakes and juice and a mug for him too. The girls greeted him and he bid them good morning too.

"Karin and I were just thinking Sasuke! Don't you think it would be fun to have a party? Not here of course, I have a house on the other side of town specifically for parties and I know a ton of fun people," she grinned. She leaned her head on her hand, resting it on the table. Her eyes smoldered and her chest puffed out, flirting with body language. Sasuke still wasn't particularly interested in having sex with the thirty something year old woman, especially not at seven o' clock in the morning.

"A party it is then," Jordan beamed, standing up to pull out one of her many cell phones out of her pocket and started calling. Sasuke choose to ignore her in favor of getting himself something to eat. As he poured syrup on his pancakes, he was well aware of Karin staring at him, and he tried to ignore her too. However, Karin was not the kind to be ignored.

"I'm gonna go to work with you guys today," she told him between bites of her own food, "Jordan says she's got something important for us."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, but the maid didn't have a chance to reply.

"We're going to be late," Jordan shouted from the other end of the house. The teenagers sighed and reluctantly left their breakfast for the car, the sound system already banging out a rap song by a popular Cuban artist.

Her driving hadn't improved over night, Jordan ran every red light and never so much as tapped her breaks. They slid in to the parking garage the same way they did every day, paying no attention to the valet, the people opening doors for them or any number of interns, receptionists or otherwise fully employed workers. The trio rode up to the accounting division where Jordan detoured to Kakuzu's office and retrieved the head accountant but not without a fight. They rode back down to the eighth floor, waving to Kakashi as they passed him on the way to a closet at the back of the room, hidden by filing cabinets. Jordan produced a key from her person and unlocked the door, opening it to another locked door.

"Jordan, no," the tan skinned man asserted, "I won't do it."

"Kakuzu, we agreed," Jordan threatened, "who else would you trust with these?"

"No one," he growled, "I say we just take them and run."

"Kakuzu," Jordan hissed, narrowing her eyes at the taller man. It was a stand off it seemed until the accountant finally caved and pulled a key from a chain around his neck. The door unlocked to reveal a locked filing cabinet, and after flicking on the light, she punched in a code.

"The password is my birthday," Jordan instructed, and opened the top drawer. She produced only three papers and handed them to her kids.

"If something were to happen to me," the woman instructed, "I want you two to come here, get these papers and take them to our lawyer. This page," she said, holding up a paper with very fine print, "is a quick claim to my ownership of the company. I hold forty nine percent. And these," she said, holding up the other two, "are two of five preferred stock certificates the company issued. That means you two get paid out first if the company bankrupts," her expression changed from serious to warming an unreadable type happy and she smiled, looking between Karin and Sasuke, "I'm going to take good care of you two no matter what."

Karin looked over the papers for a moment, she had a little knowledge of business so some of it made sense to her, but Sasuke's mind was elsewhere.

"You keep making it sound as if you're going somewhere," he pointed out. Jordan grinned.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is just a worst case scenario back up plan," she explained, pulling him into a hug. Sasuke patted her back, wanting to be let go. From the corner of his eye he could see Kakuzu glowering at him.

"What's preferred stock?" Karin questioned and it was Kakuzu's turn to explain.

"It means your a priority stockholder to the company. You get paid before the people that hold common stock, in exchange for your right to vote for our board of directors. Before you ask, the directors make decisions for the company. We can't hold those offices since we work here, but we offer the board a 'gift' if they vote in our favor, which they usually do, so our stock is just free money for us. Preferred stock is the only thing that means anything to the company."

Karin was used to the corruption so she asked no more questions, but it bothered Sasuke. Why were they so concerned about bankruptcy if he and Jordan took home such large pay checks? This was more illegal than what went on in filing, this was more illegal than rigging baseball games. It made him nervous.

"If you hold forty nine percent, who holds the rest?" Sasuke asked, clearing his throat to stop his voice from quaking. When had his mouth gone dry?

"Kakuzu owns thirty six, Kakashi, Nagato and the rest of the meeting staff own eight, and the left over seven is in common stock," Jordan elaborated, "it's a small percentage but it's a lot of money."

Karin handed the pages to Sasuke who handed them back to Jordan without looking at them.

"Are we finished?" Kakuzu asked with an almost accusing, hostile tone, plucking the sinful parchment from Jordan's fingers and locking them away. He shooed them out of the room and locked up after taking Jordan's key from her and ushered all four of them to the top office.

The girls chatted idly about lunch on the way up and they all ordered one of those 'freaky fast' sub sandwiches, and the delivery boy had them there within the half hour. Maintenance had barely gotten a chair in for each of them in the room when the office phone buzzed and sent Jordan down stairs to retrieve Sasuke's kitten. She wasn't gone five seconds before the phone buzzed again the receptionist informed them that a man was here to see Sasuke.

The dark haired boy tensed and jumped out of his seat. If he'd of done it any faster Kakuzu would have thought it was on fire. Firmly closing the heavy French doors, he spun around to face his brother who looked very confused.

"When you said you got a job I had no idea you meant here," his brother remarked in a level sort of way. Itachi never was any good with conversation.

"You never said you quit college," he countered. His older brother sighed.

"How," Itachi started but paused, seemingly unable to finish his question. The eldest Uchiha brother was going to ask how he afforded the suite he was wearing but another, better question blurted out of his lips. "How did you get here?"

Sasuke looked away from him for a moment, and when he looked back he avoided eye contact, "the C.E.O offered me a job. She's training me."

Itachi's jaw threatened to go slack. Sasuke produced his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Itachi, who took the hint to put his number in. Turning over the expensive device, he found his younger brother was no longer using his given last name and in his contacts he found last names of families he knew were very prominent in business. New friends, new life, sure Itachi wanted his brother out of a bad situation, but not like this.

He didn't know the half of it.

"Why'd you leave university?" The younger decided to take the elephant in the room before the question weighed any more on his chest.

"Mom and dad need help," the older replied. Sasuke knew that, and Sasuke also didn't care. Itachi was an idiot for giving up a law degree for their degenerate parents. Silence loomed stale in the air a few more moments before the elevator dinged and the doors retracted. Jordan, holding a pair of fuzzy kittens strode out. At first she looked like she might snap, like one angry, territorial mama pitbull, but she reassessed the situation and slapped on her best poker face smirk.

"Sasuke!" She sneered, "who's your friend? And how'd he get past security?"

The receptionist was already pressing a panic button having seen her boss. Security would be there momentarily.

"This is my brother, Itachi," the boy offered, feeling he was no longer in control of the situation.

"Nice to meet you! I'd shake your hand but mine are full of cats," she laughed, it was a horrible, fake laugh, not that Itachi could tell. Jordan looked at Sasuke with a surprised sort of distain. She was distrusting of this stranger, no matter who he was to her favorite kid.

"Anyway, Sasuke, surprise!" Jordan grinned, her expression suddenly contorting back to normal, she handed him a kitten, well more like a fluff ball with legs, "a boy and a girl. I thought you'd like that."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you too," Itachi agreed, handing Sasuke back his phone, "I was just leaving."

"Do come visit again," the CEO dared, intercepting the phone mid hand off. The elder brother was taken back. It was clear to him he was not welcome, so he bid his brother good bye and left just as security came through a side stairway.

"Your fired," Jordan screeched at her receptionist as soon as the elevator doors closed, and then shouted for the rest of the people in the room to get lost, taking the cats and her apprentice back into her office.

"What's going on?" Kakuzu growled, standing up to stomp his way to the pair entering the room. He would have been dead if looks could kill.

"Sasuke," Jordan snapped, "that's lovely about your brother, really, but I can't have him any further than the second floor."

She handed the second cat off to Karin and sat down at her desk, putting her head in her hands to think. She'd nearly panicked thinking he was a police officer or an FBI agent. She returned the teenagers phone to him and started looking for the elder Uchiha on her computer, using a program able to look through security cameras.

Sasuke observed her. She seemed stressed, uncomposed, unlike any way he'd seen her before. In a split second she was back to normal, like she'd already forgotten about it.

"Now, where we were?" She asked, and no one dared answered the question.

Sasuke had done nothing wrong. He hadn't told his brother to seek him out, he could have come down to the main lobby or meet him in a first floor conference room. Jordan seemed displeased but not with him. She was well aware it wasn't his fault and didn't blame him, but if she was going to keep this charade going she'd need a better system to safeguard herself.

A couple of emails fixed that.

However, Sasuke was still feeling like he was on the outs with Jordan. It didn't matter what she thought until now he was out of favor. The kittens had long since fallen asleep in his lap and Kakuzu had gone back to his office, leaving the office relatively quiet with Karin on her phone.

The silence ate at him.

Not only had he done something morally and lawfully wrong, but now he'd pissed off his only lifeline. Fucking hell, what was he even doing here?

"So, I've got the party mostly set," Karin announced, looking up from her phone, "I've got the groundskeeper hanging lights, putting stuff away, the DJ will be around at eight, I set the party for nine."

"Good," Jordan nodded, "drinks? Oh, well of course you've got that covered, nevermind." The girls grinned at each other.

The rest of the day went on agonizingly slow. They left work at the usual time, ate dinner as usual and separated into their respective rooms with one difference. Instead of laying down with his new pets to watch a movie, he found himself rummaging through his closet looking for something to wear. He was a boy after all, so it didn't take him long to decide on a pair of shorts and a v neck t-shirt. He layered a white button up over it, rolling up the sleeves to his elbows. He looked alright, he guessed. When he emerged from his room, Karin was in the living room, munching on something and already dressed. Jordan was out soon after, putting her hand on his shoulder and smiling.

"This is gonna be a big party," she grinned from behind dark sunglasses embossed with two Gs facing each other, "I want you to have fun okay? If you wanna leave, the garage door code to our house is my birthday."

Sasuke nodded, the events of the day seemingly forgotten. For whatever reason, Jordan let Karin drive that night, and though she'd taken lessons from his mentor, she drove much better, though she still ran yellow lights, she stopped at stop signs.

They skidded into the party house's garage, bailing out of the car and locking the doors. Karin double locked the garage doors to keep people away from Jordan's car and began rummaging through cabinets to find solo cups, stashed by the millions. Jordan disappeared to the yard to roll the solar cover the pool and throw several inflatables in the water. Kneeling down, Sasuke stuck his hand in the water and drew it back, feeling like he'd just felt bath water. Outdoor chairs lined the pool deck, other miscellaneous chairs and tables were set up across the lush green grass.

This house was more modern than the other, all glass, chrome and high end furniture. There was no room for cozy roses of fluffy white couches between the sound system speakers and chalk board black walls. If anyplace was fit for a party it was here.

The DJ arrived and the people started arriving as soon as the music started thumping and as the volume increased so did the number of party goers. Within the hour, Sasuke's heart thumped along with the bass though a sea of mashing bodies.

Hips gyrated and shoulders ground, feet shaking the floorboards harder than the music. Neon lights lit the space and drinks ran like a waterfall, it was so loud Sasuke found himself wishing he had ear plugs. Men flirted with lamps, drunk girls fell all over each other, people spilling alcohol all over everything and themselves. For fucks sake, if sin was a place it'd be here.

The dark haired boy took himself outside but it wasn't much better, there was just a few more people throwing up out here was all. Sasuke spotted a few of Karin's friends screwing around near the pool, the boy with the dog either clearly drunk or high or both, hollering like a mad man and beating on his bare chest. Naruto ran around behind him and pushed him in the pool.

Sitting down away from the rest of the people on a less populated side of the party, he choose to isolate himself from all the strangers. He had never particularly liked parties, not even when he was a child because it was mostly his poor brother doing the work while their mother slept off a hangover.

His brother wasn't a good place for his mind to dwell.

But still it itched at him. What was Itachi doing right now? Had he eaten anything? Was he safe to sleep there? Maybe, Sasuke surmised, he'd invite him to the next party. He watched Karin cross the yard and plop down next to him, removing another of those white pills from her purse to hand to him.

"Nerves?" She shouted over the music. Sasuke didn't reply.

"Jordan is looking for you," she continued, taking a sip of whatever was in her red solo cup, "she's upstairs. The hallway has a fake wall, press the light switch."

"She's looking for me when it was her that walked off?" Sasuke questioned, taking the pill as she shoved it in his direction one more time. Karin shrugged. She was drinking liquor, he sipped off her cup, rinsing down the pill with bitter liquid. That's been his first drink and he hadn't liked it.

"Why do we even call her Jordan?" He asked, a little frustrated, watching the red haired girl down the rest of her drink.

"She wants to sound American, stole it from some guy in prison for fraud," Karin slurred. That'd been her third drink and the world wasn't quite so clear now. Sasuke knew he couldn't let her walk around like that, so on his way upstairs, he intrusted her cousin with her well being since Naruto was completely sober. He managed to squeeze through the dance floor inside the house and weasel his way around people pairing off. Bodies littered the steps, but thankfully they'd kept off the second floor.

The light switch Karin spoke about took some figuring out. At first he thought she was drunker than she really was, flicking the switch on and off and strobing the overhead light before he thought to push the switch in. He didn't hear the lock disengage but he saw a seam emerge from the painted wall, revealing a hidden door to a hidden room, and he quickly pushed it open and slipped inside before anyone noticed what was happening.

The room seemed to be mood lit, dim but warm and low. A large, white, California King bed took front and center stage with its ornate headboard. Jordan was standing near the window, looking out through one sided glass at her kingdom downstairs. She turned and smiled at him as he entered.

"Now how hard was that?" she grinned, "you found me."

Oh no, he knew exactly where this was headed. Sasuke didn't reply.

"This is a great place to hide if you ever need one. That wall was professionally done, knock on it all day and you can't tell it's hollow," he couldn't read her tone but he was afraid of what she way implying as she strode to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Why'd you walk off?" He quizzed, since Karin hadn't known the answer.

"I like parties because I like people, but I really hate loud music. Cocktail parties aren't exactly my style though, are they? So I come up here to hide," she flashed her teeth this time when she smiled. The music was quieter here, he thought maybe the floor or the walls had some sound proofing. Jordan made a remark about Karin enjoying 'social outings like these anyway' but it was largely ignored. Sasuke knew she was lying, she loved loud music.

"Why'd you ask me to come up here?" He asked, deciding he was too tired to stand anymore and joined her in sitting on the bed.

"Did someone say I did?" She rose her eyebrows. Putting her hand on his shoulder, she rubbed gently with that coy smile still set on her features, he realized he'd been set up.

"Karin must of," she concluded, "she's the only one that knows about the wall. Anyway, you can stay if you like."

Sasuke did not like, and he would not be staying, but just as his brain compelled his legs to move, he got one of those sick ideas in his head that he was sure Jordan got every day when he went to work. If she could play the system, so could he. After moving on from the fact he would not be leaving the room with his virginity, he realized he was unsure of how to return her advances.

"Want some pop? She offered, standing up and removing her hand. She grabbed two cans from a table nearby and handed him one when she sat back down, opening hers and taking a sip. He mocked her, his mouth going dry again. She turned to him again after setting her drink back down.

"Nothing is going to change okay? This is casual, just for fun," she whispered as she pressed a hand to his chest and pushed him back into a half sitting half laying position on his elbows. He watched her and he watched the full can of cola in his hand, thinking it was going to spill any second, but he didn't fight her.

"You seem tense, but your muscles are really relaxed. Are you taking Karin's pills?" She sounded joking, sounded. He expected her to get on top of him but instead Jordan lay down, sighing deeply with her hand still on his chest. Instead she decided to twirl little circles into his shirt. Wait a second, what just happened?

Were they not going to..? Wasn't she..? All of a sudden she wasn't interested anymore, and he didn't understand why, not that he was complaining.

"I had a long day today after that fiasco with security, I don't really feel like it. Sorry if you were expecting something," she giggled and rolled over on her back, laughing still.

"That's fine," Sasuke murmured, sitting up to set down his soda, "I don't understand why that was such a big deal, with security I mean."

"Well it literally could have been anyone if it weren't your brother. Imagine if somebody ratted us out and we didn't have a chance to escape? Always run and ask questions later, but anyway, I was just worried," she grinned, "not that I think anyone will rat, I constantly review my staff, but we are required to submit some papers to the government. Kakuzu sees somebody once a week from some such agency, it's bullshit."

"Haven't you thought of, I don't know, ceasing the illegal stuff?" Sasuke offered, Jordan rolled her eyes.

"What we are doing isn't technically illegal, okay, it is, but if we weren't doing it for profit it'd be legal. We make a ton by buying back stock and reissuing it when the market is higher, but I mean, I don't actually have any control over the market," she babbled. Some of this legal business mumbo jumbo made his head hurt.

"It's all economics and accounting, it's simple actually, I was an econ major," she looked far off as she grinned, remembering her time at college, "I hated it but I loved it."

"It must have been frustrating," Sasuke commented, unsure of how else to respond.

"It was! I was already married to Kakuzu though, and he made me keep going. I'm grateful for it now, I love my job, I really like business" she rolled back over on her side, propping her head up with her hand, "but enough about that, what do you like? You've never really said."

Sasuke thought about that a second. He liked action movies, lemon lime soda, and hamburgers but what did he really like? Talking to his new friends was okay, and talking to Jordan was okay and so was going to work. It was all just okay.

"I like going for walks," he replied flatly, and he watched her face contort to a surprised, unsatisfied look.

"That's all?"

He nodded.

"These must be some pretty great walks. Next time you go, tell me so I can join," she huffed without sounding irritated, "get the lights will ya?"

She crawled further up on to the bed and under the covers. He did as he was asked and went to leave when she motioned him back, telling him this was harmless. She shimmied off her slacks and took off her over shirt, explaining a layer of blankets separated them and that was enough to persuade him to stay. He took off both his shirts send lay down next to her.

He still wasn't too sure about this, but his only other options were going back out to the party or trying to find a way home. Jordan seemed like the least of three evils.

"Hold on," she interjected before he could settle down. She produced two pair of earplugs and grinned though the darkness, fully prepared. She went to stick them in her ears when he caught her arm.

"You said no one lives in this house right? It's just for parties?" He asked, sort of hesitant at first but he gained confidence as he spoke.

"Yeah, why?" Jordan asked, sticking her left ear plug in. Her eyelids were heavy and her voice was laced with sleep, her shoulders slacked and hunched.

"Would it be alright if my brother stayed here?" Sasuke was just as tired, but he had to stop the pestering in his head. He had to help his brother out of that toxic house he used to call home, Itachi would have done it for him.

"What's in it for me?" The older woman countered, he should have known that was coming.

"Whatever you want," he was sure that was the right answer. Her lips curled in on a Cheshire grin and she laughed, sticking her other ear plug in and laying down, facing away from him. He took that as a yes and mocked her, feeling just a bit more at ease compared to when he entered the room.

Jordan always got what she wanted after all, that was just a fact of life, and it would always be that way.


	4. Chapter 4:Drunk On Youth Fueled By Greed

The covers on the California king were soft and heavy as the cold, fall morning air that nipped at his exposed shoulder as he rolled over. It threatening to force Sasuke all the way awake until a warm hand touched his shoulder and pulled the fluffy white comforter over his cooling skin after laying a kiss on his cheek. It was always the same cheek.

Sasuke lay still a while longer in limbo between awareness and sleep until he woke up on his own, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He pulled the blanket up over himself and decided to find his shirt to ward off further chill.

It was Saturday wasn't it? No work today.

It was a little strange not being in his own home, well, it wasn't even his own home he lived in now, but he'd grown accustomed to his room in Jordan's house. When he pushed open the door and emerged into the hallway, the smell of sulfur and bacon hit his nose. Jesus Christ he didn't think anything could smell that bad.

Venturing downstairs he found the source of both the smells. Karin was cooking bacon on the stove, her hair more a mess than usual and her skin was pale, giving her an over all frazzled look with her shirt hanging off one shoulder. Looking to his right, off the kitchen was the living room, and it looked like a bomb had gone off, quite literally with scorch marks on the ceiling and charred wood flooring, the whole nine yards.

Looking back to Karin he realized she was speaking to him and since he was unable to read lips, he removed his earplugs.

"Well, that was smart," Karin remarked, "you must not have heard anything last night then. Kiba lit a firework in the house, the whole party crashed."

He could clearly see the red haired maid was angry, more so about her friend ruining her party than about the house. As far as Sasuke knew, Kiba was the kid with the dog that acted more like a wild animal than a person, but Sasuke also knew from the short time he'd made his acquaintance that he was a mama's boy, so when he stepped out back to find Jordan on the phone and Kiba picking up scattered solo cups and broken booze bottles, he was sure the brown haired boy was only cooperating to Jordan didn't tell his mother what he'd done.

"Tuesday? You mean this Tuesday. Right?" Jordan was near screaming into one of her nicer cell phones, coffee in one hand and sunglasses on already, "No, you don't understand! I have a tenant moving in! Oh you stupid cunt, sick my dick."

Sasuke didn't think he'd ever heard a more creative insult. Jordan hung up on whoever she was fighting with and heaved a loud, frustrated sigh. She turned around to yell at Kiba to keep cleaning when she noticed him and her mood did a one eighty.

"Good morning," she grinned, pulling her shades down on her nose to look at him unimpaired, "did we wake you?"

Sasuke shook his head and Jordan went on explaining.

"Jerk ass over here set off a firework in my house! I'm not sure how you stayed asleep," She elaborated, crossing her arms, " I'm trying to find someone to fix the damage as soon as possible so your brother can move in though, don't worry."

Another one of Jordan's cell phones rang and she pulled it out of her pocket as Karin emerged from the house and offered him a plate of bacon, which he took. He exchanged glances with the red haired girl who just shrugged and went back inside. As the phone conversation went on, Jordan's features looked more and more distressed until finally she hung up.

"Kiba! Get lost!" She shouted, no sooner was the boy and his dog gone out if the yard did she follow Karin inside to grab her purse, "uh, guys, time to bug out," she urged, seemingly rushing without moving faster than usual.

By the time Sasuke had gone upstairs, grabbed his over shirt and returned, Jordan was rummaging through her bag looking for her car keys. He thought she might kiss him when he pointed them out in plain view on the counter behind her. Karin drove, and she drove slowly.

From his place in the passenger seat he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable without the banging rap music and the growing silence between the three of them. It was clear something was happening, they were running and asking questions later, but what exactly were they running from?

Did this have something to do with what he did in records? God he hoped not, because his fingerprints were all over that desk. He hoped it didn't have anything to do with that meeting either, made up man or not, and he especially hoped it didn't involve him going to jail. What was he doing and how in the world had he gotten here in just one, short week?

Karin used her blinker and applied her break as she pulled into the driveway of a modest house in the suburbs, nothing fancy, a few rose bushes and a homey garden gnome in the flowerbed. The blinds were drawn in every window the house closed, and it might look on the outside as if no one was home, but one of the doors on a two car garage opened, revealing Kakuzu's black mustang, and the door closed behind them. All three bailed out of the car, heading inside.

The house did not appear to be lived in, all the appliances were new and there was still dust on the floor from construction that had happened years ago, but none the less the house was fully furnished with expensive couches, tables and chairs, including the dining room set where Kakuzu had spread out page upon page of paperwork.

"Phones off boys and girls," Jordan grinned, putting her sunglasses on top of her head. She proceeded to take the battery out of all six of her cell phones, dumping them in a decorative wood bowl that sat on the counter. Karin mocked her and Sasuke followed suit, though he wished he didn't have to.

It was dark in the house and they weren't allowed to turn any lights on until Nagato came later that evening and gave them the all clear, and waiting for him felt like forever. Jordan wanted to involve him in the process as much as possible, but with only five days worth of training under his belt it was overwhelming, boring and frustrating all at the same time.

Kakuzu had began by saying the government was on their asses again about the stock thing, but apparently they'd been requesting source documents for their accounting journals too, whatever that meant, and so far K.M.A had been unable to produce anything.

"But they don't have the system we do," Jordan sneered. None of these documents were dated and he was unsure how long ago they'd been printed. Jordan was reading off a list and Kakuzu was sorting papers, handing them to Sasuke, and then Jordan would tell him which date to write on the top of it with bright red pen.

"Sasuke, darling, you're doing a wonderful job," Jordan gushed, behind her he could see Kakuzu narrow his eyes, "so do you think you could do me a big favor?"

Sasuke knew he wouldn't have time to respond so he didn't even try.

"I'd like you to give a press conference for me, could you do that? Well I know you could, you're absolutely perfect for the job, but would you?"

Between Kakuzu breathing down his neck, Jordan's instant nature and his job security, Sasuke thought he'd better, and agreed, which he was given a kiss of the check for. It was meant as praise but received like punishment. Kakuzu was going to lynch him in his sleep he was sure.

"Yes," Sasuke replied, "who's going to write the speech?"

"Oh, I will, or Nagato, maybe Kakashi, one of us will," Jordan grinned, handing Kakuzu two documents off the table. The tan skinned man nearly flipped his lid and walked off, muttering, to make more coffee.

"Okay, so, look here," Jordan, still grinning, took a piece of paper out of a folder and stood up, moving to lean on him, put her arms around his shoulders and shove the page in his face. He could feel her breasts pushing on him and the goosebumps under her skin.

"This is a retained earnings sheet from last year, this number," she pointed to a number reading sixteen and some million dollars near the bottom of the page, "is how much we made last year. This year it'll be twice that." She grinned, but it wasn't a nice grin.

"Where does the revenue come from?" The pale skinned boy asked, shifting his weight in attempt to shake her off, but she wasn't having it. He'd seen a lot of people working on every floor of the building, but he was unsure exactly what they did.

"Well, the stock, like I explained last night, we make money off interest when we loan other businesses money, we rent out our accounting people to other businesses, but the real money is in the number fudging. On paper, this company produces shower curtains," Jordan's smile grew more sinister, "but like hell I'm going to fire up any of those machines. Costs way too much to even start one up much less hire help. Sure, we own a factory and everything in China where it's cheap, but it's leased out."

"Where do you get the numbers?" Sasuke asked, she was waiting for him to ask.

"I make them up," she laughed, "my factory makes whatever I want it to."

"And that's illegal," the pale skinned boy pointed out, telling her something she already knew.

"I probably break seven laws before breakfast," Jordan laughed, "China isn't exactly friends with our country. The government won't find out, no one will, because it'll all get lost in paperwork. I'm sure Kakashi has all the agents at the building buried in it."

Sasuke shook his head and got back to work which served to bore Jordan and she left to find Kakuzu. He fled to the living room with Karin before she could return. Strange sexual advances he didn't ask for or want aside, he could hardly believe Jordan was able to push so much on him, especially when he knew it was wrong. Some how, some way, he always sat back down at his desk and continued on doing bad things. He supposed for just a second it wasn't really his fault, that it was Jordan pressuring him, or Kakashi, Kakuzu, whoever, reasoning why it was okay, but in the end he knew that none of that would hold up in court. He wasn't naive, he wasn't a kid, he was a man and he'd be he'd be held responsible for his part.

Sasuke thought he was a better person than this.

Apparently he wasn't.

Karin was watching some dribble doctor show, soap opera-ish trash, and he was about to rip his hair out listening to it. She was so invested in it, it was disgusting. When it was finally over and another episode was coming on, he got up and stole the remote without a fuss and turned on a pawn shop show. The show ran back to back late in to the afternoon, after the sun cast itself though the blinds on to the wall and until more lights were turned on to illuminate the house now it was nighttime. Nagato never came. Sasuke tried to wrap his mind around what that meant.

Surely if they were hiding in some strange, unused, unlived in house and couldn't leave, they were in some kind of danger. Earlier Jordan spoke about some agency in Kakashi's office, buried in paperwork, but they couldn't still be at that, the building closed hours ago. He wondered if people were watching them, maybe people outside this house right now.

"Shit goddamn!" He heard Jordan shout from the other room, "we're done!"

"Thank god," Kakuzu grumbled from somewhere near her.

"Can we go home?" Karin stood up, stretching and ambled into the other room. No one responded to her question. No, they couldn't go home. Sasuke stood up to and joined the rest of them in the other room. The papers had been cleaned off the table and stacked neatly near Kakuzu in a Manila Folder and closed with binder clips. He looked annoyed and Jordan, still smiling, looked positively proud of herself. She really took fraud seriously.

"I was thinking maybe we could all go out to eat when Nagato got here," Jordan sighed, rubbing her temples. Sasuke couldn't imagine the headache she must have, "call him if you like."

Karin was the first one to her phone, but Kakuzu quickly took it from her and retrieved one of Jordan's cell phones instead, a gas station prepaid, almost untraceable. The older man turned on the shitty speakerphone end head it near Jordan, muttering something about 'she did all the talking anyway.'

"Hello?" Nagato answered, irritated and tired sounding. Long day at the office.

"Nagato! Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm on my way Jordan, sorry I didn't give you a heads up. Where are we eating?" Nagato cleared his throat and coughed once. Jordan and Kakuzu exchanged glances. They hadn't spoken a word about eating to him yet.

"Oh, um, meet us at that big Italian place," Jordan replied, the happy tone gone and replaced with one of annoyance. She hung up without saying goodbye and stood up, shoving her chair back under the table and walked into the kitchen. She clenched her firsts and tensed for just a second before taking a deep breathe and relaxing.

"So, Nagato is compromised for now," she looked pained as she plastered a smile back on her face, "but that's okay, we were going to eat anyway. We just won't be able to talk about the business."

Kakuzu groaned, stood up and grabbed his keys and his phone, "we'd better leave now if we want to meet him there."

Jordan agreed but stood still for just a couple more moments as if deep in thought, then she turned, grabbed her phones from the bowl, grabbed her keys and left. Karin followed suite and plucked her phone from Kakuzu's hand. Sasuke was quick on their tail with his own cell phone, escaping under the murderous gaze of Kakuzu.

Karin drove again, taking it slow on back streets to the restaurant, a hole in the wall nestled between two insurance agencies. It was big building on the inside but quiet and intimate, surprisingly void of people though it was on a Main Street. Waitresses addressed customers by name and the group was settled in 'their usual spot,' a round table near the back of the building where Nagato was already seated.

"I order one of those pan pizzas," the ginger grinned, "thought we could all split it."

Karin grinned and sat down next to him, "good! I'm starving!"

Jordan sat across from her, a seat on either side of her. Sasuke took the one on her right. They weren't seated ten minutes before the food came and all the side conversations stopped. With the table quiet, Sasuke took advantage of one of his best skills. While he was born left handed, over the past few years he'd become ambidextrous, so with his phone in his left hand and pizza in his right, he progressed through the evening with one foot in table conversation and one in text messages. He'd gotten a few from Sakura and Suigetsu, but his inbox was overflowing with messages from Naruto.

"Where are you?"

"Why didn't you text me back?"

"Are you hanging out with Sakura? Back off her jerkass! And stay away from my cousin too!"

"Saassuukkee"

"Asshole! Text! Me! Back!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and replied, "calm down moron."

His phone binged right away with a reply, "hey! Where'd you go all day?"

Sasuke looked at his keyboard for just a second, unsure how to reply.

"I had to work today," he typed.

"Okay." Naruto send back.

"Whatever."

"Hey!"

"Get Karin and let's go to the movies!" Naruto was the only one he knew that needed four messages to reply to one message.

"I'm tired," Sasuke texted, cramming another greasy piece of goodness in his mouth. He wasn't sure why he was trying, Naruto was insistent.

"No way! Okay, you know what? Whatever! If you can't do it, I guess I'm just that much better than you," the message read. It was meant to light a fire under Sasuke's ass and it worked.

"Do you know how annoying you are? What time are we leaving?"

"8! Get Karin! See you then!" Naruto then proceeded to send three more texts full of emojis before Sasuke locked his phone in a huff. Like that orange clad idiot was going to get his goat. How many times had he told him to bring Karin? At least three. Jesus did he think that he was thick headed or what?

"Um," Sasuke cleared his throat and leaned closer to Jordan, " Naruto asked to go to the movies in two hours, is that alright?"

"Sure!" She chirped, " go right ahead!"

Looking over Jordan's shoulder he could see Kakuzu glowering at him and Nagato smirking. The old dog was jealous of the new puppy, and it didn't appear that would ever change. Sasukes phone binged once again with one last text message.

"Text that asshole Suigetsu and tell him to tag along too!"

Sasuke groaned.

* * *

"Where is that jerk?!" The blonde shouted, pulling his zipper on his orange jacket up and down impatiently. Karin slapped his hand away but he started again right after.

"Why don't you call him?" The redhead suggested, and Naruto whipped out his orange cased phone. It rang for just a couple seconds before the missing white haired boy answered.

"Hey! Where are you?" Naruto shouted, flipping the phone on speaker so the rest of his group could listen.

"I'm on my way, and by on my way I mean I just woke up," Suigetsu snickered, "I got Juugo here anyway, we'll be there."

"Not in time!" Naruto nagged. Suigetsu made an annoyed sounding noise.

"You've seen that movie four times, you've drug me to two of them!"

"It's a good movie," Naruto whined.

"See you there," Suigetsu replied and hung up. Naruto looked deferated.

"We can go to a later showing, want some ramen, Naruto?" Karin asked and suddenly he was all better.

"Didn't you two just eat?" Naruto asked, big blue eyes shining in the fluorescent lighting.

Karin nodded, "yeah, but we could tag along for you."

So then the night's main event became ramen instead, the movie all but forgotten. Sasuke was on his second diet soda and Naruto on his third bowl of ramen when Suigetsu finally showed up, and by the the late showing of the movie had already started and it wouldn't do any good to go back. It didn't matter though, the ramen place was open for another hour and the group seemed content to just sit and talk. For the most part, Sasuke was off in space, thinking about the business, until conversation turned to him.

"Earth to Sasuke! I asked a question!" Naruto shouted, "geeze, hard of hearing much?"

"What was the question?" Sasuke tried to keep his voice level.

"I asked how you got to live with Jordan?" The blonde responded, shoving his face full of noodles again.

"Oh," he replied, sitting up straighter and taking a drink of pop to let his brain buffer. He decided lying wouldn't hurt, "She's a friend of mine, my fathers actually."

"Are you a run away? I know for a fact she doesn't let just anyone in her house! She won't even let me in the driveway!" Naruto pressed. Christ, where did this kid get off?

"No, I'm nineteen, I can leave home whenever I like," Sasuke spat. He knew Naruto was too stupid to figure out his lie, but now he needed another excuse.

"He only stays because Jordan's been trying to sleep with him since day one!" Karin exclaimed, "oh my god, she throws herself at him! Not that I blame her."

"You gay, bro?" Suigetsu asked in all seriousness before he burst out laughing. All off a sudden the whole table was laughing at his expense. The black haired teen didn't reply, just turned himself in his chair and looked away.

"Whatever dude, I'm just kidding," Suigetsu interjected, seeing he'd struck a nerve.

"Yeah," Karin agreed, grinning, "I am too. She's needed more help since I left the business."

"Hey, hey you guys! We should all take a day trip tomorrow, just us, and Sakura, to the next town over, my dads got concert tickets from his work, I meant to ask earlier." Naruto shouted suddenly, attracting all the attention in the restaurant.

"Idiot! Quiet down!" Karin scolded, "which concert? And leave Sakura at home! She's a thot. God, that forehead!"

"Thot?" Naruto questioned as Suigetsu erupted into cackling laughter.

"That Hoe Over There," Karin explained, almost unable to reply though giggles. Naruto tried to jump to the pink haired girls defense but ended laughing too. Even Juugo cracked a smile.

"Anyway, it's late," Karin wiped a tear from her eye, "we should all be leaving."

Reluctantly the group broke up and each went their separate ways. Each waving goodbye to the rest and following each other out into the road, aimlessly honking car horns and flashing bright lights in rear view mirrors. Karin drove home, and when they arrived, neither was surprised to see Kakuzu's car.

However, upon entering the house, they were suppressed to see the state in which the car owner was in. Stark naked on the couch.

Jordan wasn't far away, just as naked and just as surprised to see her kids come home so early.

"Oh my god!" Karin screeched, "can't you do that in your own damn bedroom?! We are burning that sofa, oh my god."

Sasuke watched as the adults faces reddened and Jordan scrambled for a blanket as Kakuzu shoved her aside and grabbed for his pants. He pulled them on, grabbed his shirt out of a pile of cloths and left out of the house before anyone could tell him wait.

"Karin you can uncover your eyes," Jordan groaned, tucking the blanket under her arm and leaving the room too, equally as embarrassed as her ex-husband. She returned fully dressed, and he used that term loosely with those shorts and that top, and scowling.

"You said you weren't gonna do that anymore!" Karin huffed, going to get a drink of water and returning with one for Jordan too. She wiped a bead of sweat off of her brow and fixed her bra, taking the water and huffing too.

"No, I said I would stop doing it in the kitchen, this is the living room," Jordan scoffed, drinking down her water.

"That's not what I mean," in that moment the 'parent' in the relationship became the parented as Karin sat down next to her, crossing her legs and folding her arms, "every time you two get together, you get hurt."

Jordan rolled her eyes and lay down, half folded up and the grin gone off of her face. It did not return. She looked like she'd given up.

Sasuke wasn't jealous of Kakuzu, he wasn't surprised to see them together though they'd divorced and, well, actually, he realized that he didn't feel much of anything. And he didn't usually feel anything either. He didn't speak even though a lot of people spoke to him and he didn't feel particularly close to any of the people that felt close to him. But why?

He focused a lot of his brother, but nothing really came to mind besides Itachi's face and his situation. He never thought about his parents, and he only thought about his friends when they texted him. For someone so smart, his brain sure was empty.

He got up and left the room, going for one of Karin's many stashes of little white pills and retreated to his room where he had two fluffy kittens to enjoy.


	5. Chapter 5: Total Immersion

Light shone in the single window of Sasuke's room long into the day and he did not rise. He'd stayed in his pajamas, lying above his covers in a dark room. He'd woken up on his back and he stayed that way, his thoughts empty.

That bothered him.

Okay, so he was kind of thinking about his brother. He should give him a call and tell him about the house, but every time he compelled himself to reach over and get his phone off the charger, he couldn't seem to make his hand move. He'd taken a psychology class in high school where they'd learned about conversion disorder, where a person's limbs were paralyzed for no reason other than than they felt guilty for doing something with said limb, but after getting a cramp in his hand, he found he was able to move it. How silly of him, really.

Three staccato knocks were the only warning Sasuke got before Karin barged into his room. He'd sworn he'd locked the door.

"Hey, uh, did you plan on getting up anytime soon? It's almost noon," the spectacled woman informed him but Sasuke was well aware of the time. "I made lunch if you want some."

So begrudgingly Sasuke hauled himself out of bed, got dressed and sat down with Karin to have some pop and a tuna sandwich. Sasuke wasn't a fan of tuna, but he also wasn't complaining.

"What's up with you?" Karin asked, a mouth full of toasted bread and mashed fish shoved sort of in to her cheek as she chewed, thank God with her mouth closed, "you seem unusually dark and broody today."

"It's nothing," Sasuke replied but he knew by the sneer crossing her face she didn't believe him.

"Anyway," she began again in that same way she'd picked up from their housemate, "Jordan took off really early this morning. She woke me up at four to tell me she wanted breakfast for dinner tomorrow night and then left. Incidentally, were out of eggs and sausage."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. Okay? What'd that have to do with him?

"I'd like you to go to the store with me today," Karin sighed. God men were so thick headed.

"Did Jordan not take her car?" The ebony haired boy asked, wiping his hands off and getting up to take care of his plate.

"Suigetsu has a car," Karin pointed out, mocking him, "his brother collects them like Jordan collects sunglasses. Like baseball cards! I swear."

After rolling his eyes and finishing his soda, Sasuke knew he'd been weaseled in to it before he'd even laid eyes on a shopping list.

"Or, if you'd prefer, we are all alone," the redheads mood suddenly changed and her tone became flirty. She batted her eyelashes at him a couple times but then sighed, surrendering, when she realized he was scowling at her quite harshly. Could he blame a girl for trying?

They could probably make it to the store and back in time before Naruto came to pick them up in his father's car, but they'd have to get dressed for the event now. Sasuke choose a simple pale blue button down and khaki shorts, and was slightly disgusted when Karin appeared in similar shorts and a lavender button down, prompting him to change to a grey tee and jeans. He was glad, because after venturing outside, he found though it was warm for a fall afternoon, it wasn't that warm.

Suigetsu had traded the red Caddie for a current year pick up truck, blue with all the bells and whistles. Sasuke suspected the shiny hitch on the back would ever see a trailer, this truck was only a fashion statement.

Karin wanted to go to a big bulk store, and the reason why he'd never know, she only needed two things. The store was ridiculous anyway, what idiot would pay to shop somewhere? But regardless of what he thought they went anyway. He found himself aimlessly wandering up and down isles, tailing Karin, who argued with Suigetsu about last night's baseball game, and checking his phone.

It wasn't like Karin could just run in to the store, no, she had to get a cart, start clockwise around the overgrown warehouse disguised as a store, stop at every aisle end to look at on sale items. She didn't even recognize they were on a time limit it seemed. The fluorescent lighting and constant rumbling of the air conditioning had given Sasuke a headache before they'd even found their way into produce.

"You alright?" The redhead asked, pulling a white pill from her purse pocket, but Sasuke narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers.

"I'm going outside," he muttered, shooting her a dirty look, revolved face, and left the store, Karin calling after him that they'd be just a few more minutes. Sasuke doubted it.

There was a bench outside the doors and the CEO trainee was more than happy to occupy the left side of it. The automatic doors closed and shut, irritating his head further and making him wish he'd asked to sit in the truck instead. But whatever, it was a nice day outside and no one was trying to communicate with him, so that was good.

Leaning his head back and closing his eyes, he decided trying to tune it all out would be best for his head.

Yeah, that would work.

And it did for a while, sitting, doing nothing in the shade of the building. Sasuke mused he'd need a jacket later when they left for the concert. A hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his shallow thought process. He was sure it was Suigetsu, the hand was too large to be Karin's, but after cracking his eye open his heart began to rush. Of course he barely moved even though he was surprised, but he did turn his head.

Itachi was standing there, one hand full of groceries and looking almost afraid, wide eyed and pale. They didn't speak for a moment.

"I," Itachi uttered but then buttoned his lips up tight and didn't say another word. Either the man was stalking him or they had impeccably high chances of running in to each other.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked, looking up at his brother with no particular expression on his face. The elder didn't respond but made a face to make Sasuke think he wasn't. So Sasuke moved over on the bench and let his brother sit down.

"I had to call the police last night about father," the elder spoke softly, putting his head in his hands after setting down his groceries. His distress was understandable.

"I don't know why you bother," the younger pointed out, "you should have stayed at law school."

"Who's going to take care of them Sasuke? I visited a few weeks ago, you weren't there, mother had locked herself in the bathroom, father was passed out, I couldn't just leave them."

The elder sighed and pulled his hands away from his face, brushing his long hair back away from his eyes. Sasuke thought maybe he could see a bruise forming. To Sasuke's knowledge, their father had never been a violent drunk and he honestly didn't care what made him change.

"What made you leave?" Itachi asked, turning to him. Sasuke couldn't lie to his brothers face.

"I was sick of the arguing and the money problems," he replied. He had a right to be sick after nineteen years. He knew Itachi had ran away to law school for the same reason.

"How many classes did you have until graduation?" Sasuke asked, changing the subject.

"This was my last semester, graduation is in May." Itachi stayed summers in school too, crunching a seven year program to five, and balanced a job. Sasuke had hardly seen him at all since he'd turned thirteen.

It was a pity, really, Itachi was so close but yet so far. He could still make it through, spring semester was right around the corner.

"Sasuke! There you are!"

Both Uchiha men turned their heads to watch Suigetsu push and overflowing cart out the automatic doors, Karin seemingly ignoring him and offering no help as she stood facing them.

"We've got to go, or we'll be late," she informed, "oh! Suigetsu! Don't drop that!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'll call you later," the younger brother informed the older as he followed his companions into the parking lot. The elder offered a weak wave good bye, his mental break down seemingly averted. As they left the parking lot, Sasuke looked back and Itachi was gone.

Sasuke's jacket was all but forgotten in the last minutes before Naruto pulled into the driveway. All the groceries were hastily put away by then and with the house locked up, they were free to leave, and they did so quickly to halt the honking of the car horn. Naruto had borrowed his father's car, a trendy electric car that was surprisingly spacious for its compact look. Karin sat up front, squishing the boys in the back and that would have been alright with Sasuke if he hadn't have been forced to sit in the middle. They arrived an hour later at exactly four o'clock in the next city over and the problem arose on how to waste the time until the concert at eight.

The group of five parked and found dinner and each got their exercise walking up and down the main drag, ducking in store after store just to see what they could see. The concert theater wasn't far away and it didn't hurt to arrive early, a line was already started an hour before the opening act started and the troop of teenagers got in it.

The inside of the building was a cheaply done industrial chic, as in, they hadn't finished everything, like the ceiling or pipes, and tried to pass that off as decor. To the right of the door the band label sold merchandise and Sasuke found himself standing next to Jugo, saving a spot in line for the other three. The taller boy was either afraid to speak or couldn't, and he could barely make eye contact. But that was okay, Sasuke liked quiet people.

Karin returned just as Sasuke stepped up to the window, handed the woman behind the counter a credit card, and then ordered her to grab two matching tee shirts, one woman's and one man's, assumably one for her and himself.

"Sorry, declined," the woman informed, handing Karin back the card. The redhead looked flabbergasted.

"Jordan must have lost this one's mate and had it deactivated," she mumbled, adjusting her red rimmed glasses. But when the three after it were declined too, the Uzumaki woman looked panicked. Karin handed the woman one last card, her hand shaking. This was her final life line, the last ditch card, the card to trump all cards, the company's card to its multi-millions. The plastic slipped through the machine with ease, the magnetic strip gliding downwards followed by a shrill beep of rejection. The red head's mouth fell open.

"I've got it," a shaky voice barely projected over the noise of the place, but a large hand extended with a wad of money and they made their way out of line as quickly as possible.

"Thanks, uh, Jugo," Karin returned, tearing her phone out of her pocket and hustling outdoors. She was most likely calling Jordan. Sasuke didn't say a word, just regarded the larger man. It was easier for the skittish ginger if he didn't have to do much interacting.

"Sasuke, she won't answer!" The redhead shrieked, Sasuke could hear her returning before he saw her, pushing past people or ignoring them entirely. She was clearly distressed, sweating lightly and she couldn't seem to leave her glasses alone.

"Calm down," he commanded, instantly she stiffened. "She'll call you back, she's probably busy."

"Yeah, uh, you're right," the redhead coughed, fixing her glasses one last time, "yeah, we can make it through the rest of the night. You're right, we're fine. Come on guys."

With the major crisis seemingly averted, they left to find their seats.

For the first time, Sasuke has something on his mind. Worry was unpleasant, but it was something. The pounding music from the concert didn't do much, just reminded him of the woman in question as Sasuke sat down. Everyone else around him stood, singing and dancing to the music rhythmically pumping from nearby speakers. The tickets Naruto had were for seats down in front and the headache from that morning was returning.

"Hey!" Naruto tapped his shoulder, looking down at him from directly beside him, "come on! Be fun!"

"I don't feel good," Sasuke tried and failed to project his voice as he lied, but Naruto could read lips.

"You okay?" The blonde shouted. Sasuke nodded and was left alone for the most part after that, and he wasn't questioned when he got up and left three songs later to 'go to the bathroom.' Naruto said he looked pale, that idiot, he was always pale.

A feeling deep down in his gut made his entire body ache. Not knowing what was really going on was eating at him.

After stepping outside and pulling out his phone, it was Sasuke's turn to call Jordan. It went to voicemail the first time but the second time it rang, twice, and he heard the phone click as if she'd picked it up, but before he could speak she'd hung up again. Whatever, she'd call when she had a chance, but in the mean time, he was going to get to the bottom of whatever this was. He toyed with the idea of calling Kakuzu, but instead opted for Nagato. It rang three times before a woman answered.

"Hello?" Came her soft, calm voice. She sounded sleepy almost.

"Is Nagato there?" Sasuke asked, wondering if he'd gotten a wrong number.

It was quiet for a moment, "who may I say is calling?"

"Uh, Sasuke."

"Alright, "uh, Sasuke," I'll get him," he could hear her grinning at her own joke though the phone. He could hear rustling and Nagato took over.

"And what do I owe the pleasure?" The red head sounded cheerful, and he giggled a little. Sasuke could hear the woman giggle too.

"Uh," Sasuke began, wondering if he was still compromised, he'd better play it careful, "I've lost something."

"I got rid of the bug, don't worry," Nagato assured, but Sasuke wasn't so sure. He didn't trust anyone. If Nagato was a double agent then he'd be receiving a lie when he asked where his mentor was, and then he'd be no further ahead.

"Have you heard from Jordan?" He began, probing. Nagato did some shuffling around on the other end before replying.

"Yes, she's on a business trip. She can't take any calls right now. I'm not sure how much I can tell you, but don't worry."

"No, but the credit cards-" Sasuke began but Nagato cut him off.

"Like I said, don't worry. I'll pick you and and Karin up tomorrow to come to the office, you'll get new cards, Jordan scheduled a speech tomorrow. Are you aware you're giving a speech?"

"I am," Sasuke agreed.

"Nothing to worry about then!" Nagato said, suddenly speaking very quickly, "I'll see you tomorrow."

And then he was gone. Sasuke thought about calling Kakuzu again, but it was nearing midnight and he didn't think the old grouch would like it if he called. He wished he had Kakashi's number, but unfortunately, all he had was the man's work number. Sasuke was not at ease, knowing Jordan was away made it worse, he thought at least she was still in the city, but Nagato had changed his mind. He managed to hold down his dinner and return to the concert, and actually, he had fun after he shoved all the bad feelings out of his mind and swallowed the lump in his throat.

The crew was tired on the way home, Suigetsu had fallen asleep on Jugo and Karin was on her way there too. Sasuke had somehow managed to get the front seat, and kept Naruto company while he drove.

"You feeling better?" The blonde asked after getting on the highway and began fussing with the heater. Sasuke made an indefinite grunt in response.

"Karin made it seem like more than just sickness, you sure?" Naruto continued pestering.

"I'm fine," he had to reply that time.

"Okay, if you say so," he grinned, "wouldn't want my best bud hurling all over my dad's car."

Back the fuck up, best bud?

Sasuke didn't reply but he thought he might actually puke now. Naruto had known him what, a week? A week and a half? And he was calling him his best friend? What the fuck? Naruto just grinned and watched the road like it was no big deal. It was impossible to ignore that remark, and it gave him one more thing to worry about on the dark drive home. He said a hasty goodbye once in his driveway, tugging a still half asleep Karin in with him. She flopped down on the couch, exhausted, and didn't stir again. He on the other hand was wide awake.

Jordan was still absent, his brother was still at home with his parents, he himself could be arrested for fraud any second, and then this big orange idiot had the nerve to say he was his best friend? What did Naruto even know about him? How could you know someone a week and think you're a part of their life? Maybe he didn't have to know anything about him...maybe Sasuke was missing a point somewhere.

After making himself some tea and settling down in the armchair in the living room, he flipped on the tv, settling for watching infomercials, and he'd watch them until dawn when Nagato came.

The red head's car had double exhaust, the sports car was loud just turning it on, much less driving down the road, so Sasuke knew when he pulled in. He had a key to the house and let himself in.

"Morning kiddies," he said, throwing down a bag of greasy breakfast burritos on the coffee table. "Time to get up," he nudged Karin, who groaned, mumbled something about 'sex lords' and rolled over.

"She shouldn't be allowed within fifty feet of Jordan," Nagato smirked, snorting, "go get dressed, you can eat on the way there, I've got your speech in the car."

Sasuke did as was asked of him, even if his body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. He brushed his teeth, noticing how pale his face was in contrast to the dark circles under his eyes. He could have made top wages haunting houses if it had been closer to Halloween.

Nothing mattered at that moment though, besides the speech, and after returning to the living room, he found Karin, awake but still in last night's clothes.

"I dont understand why I have to go, I'm just the maid," she huffed, her bed head sticking out in all directions as she began putting hot sauce on her burrito, shoving it in to her big mouth. Maybe that'd keep her quiet for a while.

"It's safer that way," Nagato sounded oddly calm, "where's your tie?" He asked, looking up as Sasuke entered the room. The dark haired boy pulled the violet piece of fabric from is black jacket pocket and showed the older man. It didn't matter in that moment that he couldn't the his own tie, they needed to leave, but wait, according to Karin he needed something. The red headed woman disappeared for a moment and returned with a pair of Jordan's sunglasses, a unisex pair that were no doubt expensive. She offered to put them on his face for him, any excuse to touch him really, but Sasuke choose to pocket them.

The ride to the building was quiet, the cars tinted windows and silent stereo system made a safe feeling place for Sasuke to skimmed over his speech, no blatant lies he noticed, just a lot of generalized chatter that was meant to boost morales of the staff probably. A speech so easy, he wouldn't even need to read from the paper. This would be a real walk in the park.

Or so Sasuke thought.

From the parking lot he was rushed into the lobby, which was swarming with people, in to a packed elevator to the conference room floor, squeezed down a packed hallway, dodging roadblocks of people and into a private room. That's when he realized he wasn't speaking to the building staff.

Kakuzu was already in the room, trying to wear a rut in to the floor and nervously chugging bottle after bottle of water. As soon as Sasuke entered the room with Nagato, the emerald eyed man was at his throat.

"I'm telling you right god damn now this is a mistake, he's a mistake, this is a bad idea Nagato and I'm pulling the plug!" He raved, beating a fist down so hard on a nearby table, the leg cracked and threatened to buckle.

"This is how Jordan wants-" Nagato began, but Kakuzu wasn't hearing it.

"I don't give a fuck!" He bellowed over him, "Jordan isn't always right. The future of the company is riding on this little shit head, and I for one am not going down with the ship!"

Alright, no pressure.

"She owns the most parts, she the owner," Nagato tried, but they both knew it didn't work like that.

"She doesn't make all the decisions," Kakuzu growled, eyes reduced to slits and teeth gritting as hard as he could stand, "I'm pulling the plug. Tell everyone to go home, close the whole damn building down."

Sasuke didn't appreciate being called names, and he certainly didn't appreciate being discounted or underestimated, even though his mouth had long gone dry. His nerves pricked in his veins, but he'd do this now even if he dropped dead the second he finished just to show the royal king of assholes he could. No one could ever accuse Sasuke Uchiha of being unconfident.

"Sasuke," Nagato grinned, "tie your tie, you're on in five."

"Like hell he is!" Kakuzu roared, charging him like a bull, "if you fuck this up, you little son of a bitch, I swear your head'll be on a silver fucking platter!"

Nagato held the older man off as Sasuke escaped to the hallway and used his phone to learn how to tie his tie. The doors of the conference room parted like the sea for him and the dark haired boy strode in.

The clicking of his shoes and the constant snapping of photos was the only sound in the room. Sasuke mounted the podium, his presence commanding silence, looked over the room, and began speaking to all the white collars.

"Good morning," he began after clearing his throat, "the leaders here KMA corporation thank you all for coming. As the new assistant CEO," wait, had he read that correctly? "I welcome you all to our open house. In light of our latest legal accusations, we have asked our investors here to show that KMA is stronger, bigger and tougher than ever. It's my pleasure to introduce our first speaker of the day, Konan, our chief legal head."

The room erupted in applause and for the first time he entered the room, Sasuke relaxed. Until then he hadn't noticed his fists were clenched or than his legs were so tense, he had cramps all down his limbs now. He stepped down from the podium and the stage, brushing the shoulder of a woman who could only be Konan.

"Well done," she grinned, smoothing out her pencil skirt as she climbed the single step. He recognized her sleepy voice from the phone last night. He turned his head to watch her as she took the microphone, her presence demanding just as much respect as his if not more. He would have stayed to watch her if he hadn't been yanked by his wrist out of the room and towed back to the private suite by security.

He didn't appreciate being man handled, he ripped his arm out of the other man's grip as soon as he could and shot him a dirty look. How dare he? But there was no time to dwell, someone was in the room that demanded his attention.


	6. Chapter 6: The Only Thing Standing

She wore sunglasses, like always, and she smiled like always too. She was looking to her right, listening very intently to whatever Nagato was telling her, holding Karin's hand with her right hand and holding a bottle of water in her left. With her suite perfectly ironed and her hair done up, Jordan sat on the rooms plush red couch, like a queen on her throne. When he entered the room, she turned to face him.

"Sasuke! Well done," she showed her teeth in a large, happy smile, "really, I'm impressed. How'd it feel? Fun? Scary?"

"Fine," he replied. Fine like everything else.

"Oh, sweety, haven't you slept at all?" She gushed, standing up and crossing the room to take his face in either of her hands and upturn his features to get a better look at him, "oh, I'm so, so sorry. What kept you up?"

"I drank too much pop," he lied. They both knew be lied too, but she choose to ignore it, instead she gave him a hug and fussed over him a little before inviting him to sit next to her on the couch, where they were watching Konan on a closed circuit television.

"Kakuzu's next, Kakashi is going with him but he won't speak, and I'm going last, I'd like the entire office to stand with me," Jordan explained, taking another sip of her water, "we're going to have quite the long night."

She laughed a little, but at what was unclear.

Konan was talking and after the room fell silent, all the attention turned back to her. She was going on about how false the accusations were and what the company was doing to help fight this and how they'd be revising their systems, something Kakuzu would be elaborating on. Sasuke tuned her out in order to get a better look at the others in the room.

Kakuzu was chugging a less than innocent looking beverage from a flask, he'd given up on drinking water in the short ten minutes he'd been gone. He wasn't screaming or ranting, just sitting, quietly for once, seemingly repressed now Jordan was there.

Nagato was sitting back too, grinning, and watching his... Girlfriend, fuck buddy, whatever on TV, nodding along with her. He was drinking too, what looked like one of those flavored drink mixes in his water.

Karin, who was sitting on the other side of Jordan, had taken up her hand. The worried look she carried so long last night was gone, but now she just looked plain tired. He could see a credit card tucked into her hand which rested on her lap. He wondered what they'd said to each other while he'd been gone. He wondered if Karin cried.

He never asked but it seemed to him Karin had been here for years, he wasn't sure how many. He thought maybe Jordan had legal guardianship of her, not that it mattered since she was eighteen now. Maybe she'd come from foster care, he didn't see any of Jordan's own children with Kakuzu running around, pre or post marital. But the question still begged, if Naruto was her cousin and his family was loaded, why didn't they adopt her?

As much as Sasuke wanted an answer, he never planned on asking the questions, it didn't matter in the long run and he didn't care about it that much. He had much more pressing things to worry about.

Like making it through the day.

Konan finished up and Kakuzu left, tucking his flask into his jacket, Kakashi appearing, late as usual, out of nowhere to walk with him to the room. They say for a while longer, listening to the buzzed accountant speak (surprisingly clear too for as much as he drank).

Kakuzu spoke mostly about how nothing had actually gone wrong in the system, how things had just gotten misplaced, and how they were putting checks and balance systems to keep it from happening again. Apparently this problem was much larger than it first appeared, how had one night spent organizing papers transpired into a major scandal?

Those papers, he realized, were the tip of the iceberg. The longer he listened to Kakuzu talk, the more sense it made. While they were at the house, making up documents, everyone else was at the building, working hard to falsify everything else.

As Kakuzu began his wrap up, it was time for them to leave the room. Jordan lead the way, having the door locked behind them. They entered the room just as the people began to clap for the accountant, who was now red in the face. From drink or nerves, Sasuke couldn't tell. Jordan took the podium, all of her major supporting staff standing in a straight line behind her. Sasuke ended up sandwiched between Karin and Konan.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've had a lot of fine people working to put this behind us," Jordan began, grinning ear to ear. She removed her sunglasses before she'd entered, pinning them in her blazer pocket."I love my staff like family, and I'm glad my it was them working with me when all this went down. I want to tell you all a story, an underdog speech about how we all came to stand before you today. When I was sixteen, my father passed away. I was left with a small fortune, left with no one but a small group of his close friends to instruct me on how to go about investing that money."

She played the crowd, beginning quiet and lady like, but her voice built and built, growing louder and more confident, more tenacious, until she didn't even need the microphone to get her point across, "and I did like they said, and I built this company, and I built for myself the best goddamn company this country's ever seen. All of my employees, my investors, all the people that have faith in me, they're my family, And I'll do whatever it takes to keep my family safe, employed, and food on their tables. Thank you!"

The room erupted in applause. The high energy her speech had created has broke open, spilling good feeling and happy vibes throughout the room. Streamers might as well of fell from the ceiling. All they had to do now was grin and wave, and Sasuke did it, wearing a painted on, forced smile he'd learned from Jordan. He couldn't say she never taught him anything.

When he finally got to leave the room, he almost ran upstairs.

Sasuke spent the rest of his day behind Jordan's desk, sending email after email, signing paper after paper, reading, summarizing and approving new sets of rules for each department, and it was explicitly stated in the papers he was only allowed to approve. His signature held the same power as Jordan's now and it felt incredibly good to have that in his arsenal. Everyone was in overdrive, in fact he hardly saw Jordan except for the few times she brought him a coffee and another stack of papers. Karin was the only other person besides himself and Jordan that currently had security clearance to this level, a system of laminated, barcode IDs already in use to keep it that way. This wouldn't have been a problem, if fact less people was better, except with the redhead playing on her phone, Sasuke had no one to ask if he was doing things correctly. He hadn't been been told what to do or even how to do it, he sort of had to figure it out himself when the paper stack reached waist height and he was the only one sitting in the office.

So there he was, typing away, writing, typing, writing, signing, sorting, until the computer system shut off. First the internet booted him off and then the computer itself crashed, shutting itself off seemingly with a sigh. Sasuke sighed too, he'd just lost the email he'd been writing.

When it rebooted, the mouse began moving on its own. Sasuke tried to regain control, clicking and waving the wireless mouse, but failed. The computer reopened the Internet all by itself and logged on to a live feed of the closing bell at the stock exchange after ghost typing in an address. This had to be Jordan, downstairs with Nagato or someone else important, and they wanted him to watch.

The closing bell rang and all of a sudden the floor was quiet, still and colorful as computers flashed and numbers ran across the bottom screen. He recognized the corporations initials in a sea of fast running shorthand. A little upwards facing arrow was directly after the A, a pixelated, green colored fifteen percent followed it. Sasuke didn't know much about stocks, but he knew an up arrow was good.

He returned to work signing papers one at a time. He read each document just to make sure he knew what he was agreeing to, but they mostly all just said the same thing, a few words changed around here and there. Soon he was skimming through packets and signing them in under a minute, pushing the process faster and faster.

Each of the thick packets covered another department, some of them Sasuke had no idea where they were located, others he was sure we're made up, and each detailed a checks and balances system to keep a repeat of the stock buyback problem from happening again. Why each department needed one he didn't know, maybe it was just to look good. These were good systems though, they named names responsible and listed exact file names to be accessed and for once it seemed Jordan had taken his advice and stopped all the illegal things.

The pile on the floor was growing smaller and his hand was beginning to hurt, but if the new system was going to work, Sasuke knew he had to approve all these positive changes. They were going to save his ass from any lawsuits after all. The morning was quickly passing in to afternoon and everything was going well. That was until a half drunk Jordan swung through the door.

"We're safe!" she bellowed, throwing open the room's french doors.

"Thats awesome," Karin droned from her spot next to the desk. She hadn't even looked up from her phone.

"Sasuke, sweetheart!" Jordan came at him, walking fast and grinning differently than usual, She put her hands on the desk, leaning over and bringing her face closer and closer to his, "Sasuke, Sweetheart, Sweetheart, Our stock was almost worthless this morning! It fell twenty points! But do you know what? I bet you can't even guess, can you?"

She didn't give him a chance to reply.

"It went right back up! It was almost worthless and we gained back a little over half of our worth! I bet it'll gain even more 't that great sweet heart? You saved our asses with that pretty face of yours," she giggled, pulling her sunglasses out of her pocket and flipping them on. She gripped him by the chin, putting her face even closer to his and continued in a low, sweet sounding tone, "you've got a real energy when you speak. I heard the whole thing and let me tell you."

She chuckled and licked the tip of his nose, and then quickly after abandoned him for Karin. He was glad to be rid of the attention. He wiped the saliva off of his face and glared at her back. He had to remind himself he was working, he also wasn't in a spot where he could just tear her a new one for unwanted physical contact, so he settled back down to work.

"Sasuke, sweety, I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Jordan half slurred, looking back over at him, "but don't you know we're in the green? Kakuzu gave the all clear ten minutes ago. You can shred all that now."

Sasuke nearly yanked the shredder drawer off if its hinges.

Fucking licked him and then made his entire afternoon a waste of time? Damn her. Damn her and this company and that fucking speech! It wasn't even really a speech! How could she just, just, attribute this all to him?

According to her this was all his fault! If he hadn't of agreed to do that speech, the investors wouldn't have seen him and the stock would have rightfully been worthless. Then this whole shit hole would have collapsed and these people would have gotten what they deserved.

He could bitch about them all night and it wouldn't help anything. Besides, he'd of been out of the job then... Better not complain too much.

Picking up the stack of papers he was currently working on, he fed them all including the staple through the shredder. He only sat around another minute or two before he decided to make a trip to see Kakashi.

Sasuke first rode the elevator down to the filing room, but after finding he was unable to get in, he went down one floor lower. For once in his life, it seemed Kakashi was doing something instead of hiding.

This floor was a copy of the accounting level. He could see Kakashi's office, a desk framed by glass and a wall of windows to the outside behind him. The silver haired man wasn't doing any work, just kicking back with his feet on his desk, and waved at him as the elevator doors opened. Sasuke should have figured.

This was his first time on this floor, so as he walked down the maze of cubicles, Sasuke paid attention to the details. He supposed the winding trail of work spaces was to buy Kakashi time if anyone with not so innocent motives came down here. Each cube office was the same, a computer, a rolling office chair and a printer/scanner combo, plus anything the employee had personal, such as calendars, any amount of odds and end pens, and pictures of their families. After closing Kakashi's office door, he noticed there was a seal on it to keep sound out, and his words in.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" Kakashi asked, tone light and relaxed, his face contorting into a smile with the scar over his eye pulling the muscles around it taunt.

Sasuke didn't answer, but Kakashi already knew what the problem was. As loyal as he was to the company, he'd long accepted that sometimes something you worked hard on had to be scrapped.

"Long day?" He asked. Sasuke nodded and sat down in the offices extra chair. Kakashi wasn't particularly talkative, but more so than Sasuke. The silver haired man decided to try one more time before he left the boy alone completely.

"Something bothering you?"

That struck a nerve. Sasuke slowly looked up, blinked and gave it some thought before he answered, "you have no idea."

"Well, if it helps your nerves any," the paler man spoke, the smile gone from his face, "we don't waste all the money we make. One third of our income goes to a charity Jordan started to help tennagers in need and she also donates to planned parenthood."

"You're pulling that out of your ass," Sasuke accused. That was way too good to be true.

"I'm not," Kakashi replied very matter of factly.

"Well then where's the money? Do you expect me to believe that after all the paychecks are taken out there still a third to be given away? How much do you make again? Because I know how much I make," the black haired boy growled. He was not in the mood to be spoon fed a crock of bullshit.

"Unfortunately I can't answer where the money comes from. Ask Jordan."

Sasuke didn't know what was better, Kakashi's poker face or the story this was gonna make for his grandkids some day. It'd be right in the fantasy book next to Cinderella.

Sasuke decided to just put his head in his hands and rest. He leaned back on the chair and sighed, trying to tell himself it was all over. The company was safe, he was safe, the frustration would go away, and he certainly hoped the guilt would too.

Thankfully the older man left him alone after that.

They enjoyed each others company in silence, each playing on their own electrical device until quitting time came around again like it did every day. Thank God!

Sasuke was the first to the parking garage, and it wasn't like he could leave without the girls, so he decided to lean on a flower planter in the sunlight, letting the crisp autumnal breeze run through his hair on what might be the few last nice days they'd have that fall. Halloween was next week and he wondered vaguely if Jordan was going to throw a party as busy as she was. He didn't wait long, Jordan lead the way out of the building followed by Karin, Kakuzu and Nagato.

She brightened up, flashing him a smile. Her mouth and eyebrows were the only parts of her face he could see well with those giant sunglasses on, "you have fun with Kakashi? I know he's just bundles of energy."

That didn't require an answer and Sasuke didn't give her one. Nagato ended up driving Kakuzu home, the old bastard was too drunk to drive, and Karin drove their car, just to be safe. Judging by the big black SUV parked nearby no one was taking chances anymore, not with people watching. Jordan had the music blaring as usual and he couldn't exactly hear what she was saying, but he watched her motion down her hands and by the way the car was headed down the city streets, he figured they were headed to the party house. His suspicions were confirmed when they pulled in the driveway which was filled with beat up trucks and construction equipment.

Jordan quickly got out and the project manager came to talk to her, they only chatted for a hot minute before motioning her kids inside.

The inside of the house was covered in drop cloths, power tools and sawdust. Coming through the kitchen to the living room, scaffolding was built up to a hole in the ceiling, the spoils taken down covered the tarp under them and protected the already redone floor.

"He says they should be done and cleaned up by Wednesday, your brother can move in right then," Jordan pulled off her sunglasses and put them on the top of her head.

Sasuke nodded. His eyes pulled down and his shoulders felt like he had weights tied to them, his long night was finally catching up. Eventually he wandered back out to the car to wait as Jordan paid the man and gave him a few extra instructions on how to go about cleaning up the trash stored in the garage. She left him and the house with a dumpster company card.

It wasn't until the car started moving again, smoothly rolling down long boulevards back home, when the exhaustion finally caught up to him full force. He was like a baby, the longer he rode the worse he felt until he finally shut his eyes and didn't open them until they arrived home. Karin shook him awake after they pulled into the driveway and he managed to drag himself from the back seat to his bed where he promptly collapsed, shoes on and all, laying vertical across his bed.

He fell very deeply into a dreamless sleep, so deeply any amount of Jordan's arguing over the phone, Karin's clanging pots and pans and a smoke detector couldn't wake him. He needed rest like a car needed gas or how a plant needed water, it was impossible for him to go any further without it.

His female kitten was curled up next to him when he awoke, his eyes opened and stung even though the darkness, so after rubbing them, he surveyed his room. It was dark outside, he could tell, and after digging in his pocket for his phone, he discovered it was past three in the morning. What forced him out of a dead sleep was unclear. He struggled and fought himself to return to his beauty sleep, but no amount of tossing or turning could get him there.

Well, anything would be better than just laying there, so after changing into his pajamas, he left the room in search of one of Karin's little white pills, thinking he could relax himself back to napping at least until the sun came up. He was going for her stash under a vase in the hall when he realized the television was still on in the living room.

It'd take just a second to turn it off he reasoned, the girls would appreciate that. So he ventured into the living room.

The room was dark save for a tiny night light that never went off and the flashing blue glow of the television. From where he was standing he could see Jordan, laying back and mindlessly staring at the screen. The volume was muted. He swore she was asleep with her eyes open until she blinked. He thought it strange she hadn't noticed him yet. He was about to turn away and go back to his bed when he heard her laugh.

"You should see this, how did people get so goddamn stupid?" She was referencing something on tv, "There's still sausage left over and I think maybe some fruit. I know you didn't eat dinner, aren't you hungry?"

His first reaction was to say no, but after a second passed he realized, that yes, he was hungry, starving actually. He found himself hurrying to the kitchen and grabbing a paper plate. He drug the bowl of fruit, a link of sausage, some left over pancakes, and a glass of juice out of the fridge. When he returned to the living room, Jordan had moved over, her legs folded up under her to make room for him. He didn't know what she was up to, maybe nothing, but he didn't put the worst past her, so he sat nearby in the arm chair. Jordan was watching a baseball replay, the captions on so she could read what they were saying.

"Who won?" He asked, shoving a cut strawberry in to his mouth followed by another and then another. Normally he wouldn't have bothered, he didn't care about baseball, but he had a few things he wanted to ask Jordan. She was calm and probably tired, now might be the best time to ask even if he was barely coherent.

"Not my team," she laughed, bitter and spiteful, "and they weren't supposed to lose."

In the silence that followed it occurred to Sasuke that all that extra money Kakashi was talking about earlier came from the rigged baseball games. It was the end of the season, in fact it was the off season for most, but some of the guys running across the screen made it seem like it was the first day of the year. Falling all over, failing to jump for balls they could have easily caught, bad calls on pitches, it was all making sense. Just how much money had they lost tonight? he wondered, and what was going to be done about the team now the plan had backfired on Jordan?

The reporter, a short, squat, fat man speculated on the game as they replayed one pitch over and over, zooming in and zooming out, freeze framing it, everything he could to break it down. Yes, this explained everything. From the corner of his eye he could see she was looking at him, looking knowing and maybe...resentful? She knew he knew and she wasn't happy about it.

"Did you need anything else?" She asked, her emotions masked in a flat tone. She'd be over it in a second. Sasuke cleared his throat after swallowing.

"I owe you a favor right? For letting my brother move in?"

As much as he didn't want to bring it up, he knew he had to. Better he did now than her bringing it up later in the bedroom. He didn't want her sneaking up on him. She was quiet, surprisingly, while she thought for a second.

"Yeah, you do. Don't worry about it," she sighed, turning back to the tv to flip on another channel. Reruns of her favorite show were on, a fictional show about special investigators in the Konoha police force. Law and justice? Rules and order? He wasn't sure of the name.

"What is it you had in mind?" He was going to worry about it actually. She looked back at him and he could see suspicion cross her features. Clearly she was the only one allowed to ask questions here. She thought for another minute, surprising him again. The tired woman got an idea, he could see it when it popped into her brain because she grinned a tell tale grin that reminded him of the Cheshire Cat.

"Well," she began, "I'm not sure how to go about proposing it. I won't make you if you don't want to of course, I have other things that need done if you'd rather not, but this is my first choice. It's the easiest and least illegal."

That didn't take her long, Sasuke thinks. Of course she'd bring it straight around to sex.

"We'll talk it over later, okay?" she tried again to brush it off.

"Do I need anything special?" He pressed. He could see he was beginning to irritate her again. He struggled to keep his face from going flush with the thought of what she might possibly say. They'd need some kind of protection indefinitely.

"One of my nicer cell phones probably, you can borrow it if you can handle it. You can handle it right?" She laughed, " Oh, do you have a driver's license?"

How on just a son of a bitching second.

Just what kind of kinky shit was she into?

"What exactly are we going to be doing?" Sasuke asked, leaning forward in his seat, and almost unable to believe his ears. What kind of person has sex in a car? If he needed a license would the car be moving? What was the cell phone for? Oh god he hoped not- and oh, oh god he hoped it wouldn't be in some grimy parking lot. What if he friends saw him?

"Oh. I just want you to drop me off somewhere and drive me home after. That's all, don't worry so much, okay? Why? What did you think I meant?" She sneered, and she knew exactly what he thought as a look of relief rose to his features, "is sex what you intended on bartering? Because that's a pretty good deal too. Your mind must be in the gutter Sasuke."

She threw back her head and laughed, and she laughed hard. This time he did blush a little, okay a lot, his whole face turned beat red. She got herself under control but when she looked back over at him, she lost it all over again.

"Okay, okay, all that aside, you have a driver's license right?" She asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

Sasuke shook his head. No, his parents never bothered to put him in drivers training.

"That's okay, I'll give you a crash course," Jordan grinned, "you know, this is a nice neighborhood, do you wanna go on one of those walks you were saying you liked so much?"

It wasn't like he had anything better to do right now, sleep was evading him and he felt like he had enough energy to go. If Jordan was quiet maybe he could clear his head. So after a quick clothes change, they headed outside with their walking shoes on.

It was still dark out, but street lights and porch lights lit the way. It had been cold the last few nights so no bug bothered them. They walked down the driveway and out to the road where a sidewalk paved the way through the neighborhood. This was a winding complex of houses similar to Jordan's that broke off an infinite number of times to other sides streets and cul-de-sacs with every house filled on every street. He couldn't imagine these other people had jobs like he did.

He glanced over to Jordan who seemed content, the only sound between them was their foot falls. He wondered what it was about her that he liked but realized right after it was her whole self. She was nice to him and went out of her way to seek his comfort, he liked the way she lied and got away with it, and the way she used people and never felt bad.

That was all the company really was right? Using people. Even Kakuzu, even himself.

If she didn't feel bad why did he? What was so different about confident, prideful, outgoing Jordan? He was all of those things too wasn't he? Maybe he should ask her.

Probably not.

He should just stop. Maybe that was the key, he should just stop being worried and stop feeling guilty. That was near impossible and he knew that. Any second the police could come roaring down this very road to haul him away and they had nowhere to run. The company could collapse just as easily. A slip of the tongue would kill their stock or shut down the building or any number of other horrible situations. It would only take one worker ant to blow everything, one person that knew too much.

But Jordan had back ups for all these worst case scenarios. He didn't need to jump the gun just yet. Before he realized it, he had no idea where he was or how many steps he'd taken.

"You okay?" Jordan asked suddenly. Sasuke's breath hitched, she'd surprised him.

"Fine," he replied. One day he hoped to be able to lie just as well as she did.

"So, could you handle it if I went away again?" She continued. Sasuke shrugged and they took a few more steps before he spoke.

"Why do you keep making it seem like you're leaving?"

"Just in case," she replied, her tone very serious, "don't worry. I'll always come back, I won't let you go down for anything I did."

"So I'm on my own if I did it?" He asked, looking over at her for a moment before looking down to focus on his shoes.

"No," she laughed, "you won't get caught."

How did she know that? How could she just say that? It wasn't comforting.

"oh, wow, okay, we need a subject change," she kept on grinning, the ghost of a giggle on her voice. He didn't know why she didn't want to talk about it anymore, but that was okay with him. He didn't want to hear it. Sasuke didn't reply.

"Yeah, okay," Jordan continued, "anyway, did you call your brother and tell him about the house?

"I will today."

That was a lie. Sasuke had no intention of calling his brother today, or tomorrow. He was going to call his brother Wednesday, invite him to the house and have Jordan put him on the spot. Nobody could say no to Jordan, not even Itachi. If Sasuke knew anything about his brother, it was that he was a hard nut to crack.

"I'm excited to formally meet him," Jordan grinned, "the last time I saw him, I was sort of rude. Do you think he'll forgive me?"

"My mother raised us with ungodly politeness," he rolled his eyes. The older woman lost herself in a fit of giggles.

"Well then what happened to you?"

He rolled his eyes again and kept walking. The twisting suburb sidewalk lay out before him with no given directions or map, nothing to base itself on, it just went in whichever direction its owners planned. It was, Sasuke realized, an unfortunate and ironic metaphor for his life.


	7. Chapter 7: Becoming Strong

When Wednesday rolled around, Sasuke found himself in the car, headed to meet his brother at the party house. He'd called him about an hour ago and asked him to meet him there, no explanation given. Itachi sounded hesitant, and exhausted, but mostly hesitant. Jordan drove, so they made it to the house in no time, meaning now they had to wait. Jordan had gone inside to 'inspect the job,' but he suspected she actually didn't want to meet his brother.

Sasuke was sitting sideways in the passenger seat of the car, door open, his feet on the driveway, hunched over his phone, texting Suigetsu, when itachi pulled in.

His brother looked as tired as he sounded on the phone, and the car he drove rattled hopelessly, but his hair and clothes were clean so he wasn't too worse for wear.

"Is that dad's car?" Sasuke asked, almost unable to recognize the silver Chevy with all of its dents and scattered paint chips in safety yellow. Itachi nodded. He didn't need to ask what happened, all of his father's cars ended up that way.

"What did you need Sasuke? I'm a little busy today," the older man asked, pocketing his keys. Busy, too busy for him, just like always. The younger stood up and asked his brother to follow him. He could feel the suspicion he was giving off, but Sasuke choose to ignore it as he opened the front door and lead him inside. The house was as good as new, the dark wood floor flowed seamlessly throughout, and the ceiling was painted pitch black just like the other walls. The furniture hadn't been harmed, and he would have hoped not, with the amount of abuse they were made to withstand. The finish on the closest table still looked new. Itachi followed his brother quietly down the hallway from the entrance and into the living room, where he was invited to sit down. He wasn't sure if he wanted to. He was afraid the sofa might reject his middle class ass.

"Who's house is this?" The older asked, adjusting himself in his seat. He should have taken his shoes off he decided. For such a plush chair, he sure was uncomfortable.

"My mentor uses this house for parties," the younger answered, folding his hands in his lap. That was clear, the house's large speakers were in full view. Itachi stayed quiet, his nerves were on edge at home, he didn't need this too. It took Sasuke a second to reply, he wasn't great at this sort of thing.

"I wanted you to be able to get away from mom and dad. It's not fair I got out and you have to stay."

Itachi made an unhappy noise and sat back in the chair, putting one hand over his eyes. Sasuke sat still, watching, waiting and hoping Jordan would come out from where ever it was she was hiding and to the talking like always.

As brothers they shared a bond with each other, no matter how long they'd been apart and the distance between them both physically and emotionally, he wouldn't call it love, but they had at least an understanding. Sasuke was sure Itachi knew he only wanted what was best for him. The silence was growing and becoming more and more awkward.

Finally Itachi sighed and stood up, taking a long look over the house as he strode to the back sliding glass door to glance over the back yard. He was quiet for a few more moments, his face contracting and his mouth moving, going to start a sentence but lost the words, until finally turned and sound left his lips.

"I appreciate all of this, I really do. I know you think it's worthless trying to help mom and dad, but they need me."

Sasuke sat back on the sofa and sighed. Honestly? He was still on about their parents?

"Have you learned nothing from our childhood? I wouldn't call what they did neglectful but they certainly never did us any favors," he spat, tongue on fire, words made of acid, he kept his calm demeanor though, tone level, his face unreadable. "You are so blind Itachi. I'm trying to lead you but you'd rather stumble in the dark."

His words cut deep, the older man scowled, deeply offended. "I won't abandon our parents," he hissed, "they need me."

"Why do you keep saying that? They don't need you! They don't need anyone!" Sasuke shouted, a sudden rage coursing through his veins like nothing he'd ever felt before. He grit his teeth and his fists clenched. "If they want to drink themselves into an early grave then let them! They never tried to help us Itachi, why should you help them?"

Itachi tried to drive his point home, to hit him hard with words, but they rolled right off of Sasuke's back. His younger brother wasn't listening. "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with a rehab center in half an hour." Itachi replied, curt, as he pulled his keys from his pocket and got ready to leave, and as if she was cued, Jordan decided the steps.

She looked like some sort of royalty, and this was rightfully her castle, all she was missing was the flowing dress and a crown. She moved fast, but with poise, level shoulders and calculated steps, grinning and running her hand down the railing until she reached the bottom. Her sunglasses glint, catching the light as she crossed the room.

"I hope I'm not too late to meet your brother!" she sounded happy almost, grinning ear to ear, and coming over to shake his hand, "it's nice to meet you, I'm Katzuki, please call me Jordan."

They'd meet before, Itachi was sure of it, and by the look of disdain and confusion on his face, he wasn't sure what to make of her. Had she not heard any of the yelling? And why such a tight grip on his hand?

"Anyway, your younger brother is such a gifted young man," she beamed, putting her other hand on Itachi's shoulder, "I'm very proud to have him working with me, you must be proud too right? I'm sure of it. He's so kind, and good with the rest if the staff, a real hard worker!"

Itachi didn't even have a second to get a word in.

"He explained to me that you needed a place to stay, and don't we all? Don't worry. You can stay here rent free, but you've got to buy your own food and things, the TV upstairs gets ten thousand channels, the pool is heated, good deal right? I thought so. But I'm still having parties here too, in fact I'm having one for Halloween, but you wouldn't mind, would you? I'm sure you young, college bucks just love parties."

Itachi took a step back, overwhelmed by the dominant presence in the room, Jordan could see she made him uncomfortable, and she was standing in the path of the only exit.

"I was just explaining to Sasuke that I..." Itachi trailed off, but Jordan picked up on what he was trying to say. After all, it was hard not to hear the brothers screaming match.

"Oh nonsense. They're grown people. And it's not like you don't have a car, there's a phone here to use if they need help. You aren't that far from home are you? Come on, no rent living in a gorgeous house. How good can it get for a law student?"

Itachi couldn't keep eye contact with her, so he settled to looking at his brother for help. Sasuke, who offered no assistance, had his hands shoved in his pants and looked very relaxed. Lucky him. This dark haired, smiling women wouldn't take no for an answer and he was quickly catching on.

"I'm going to need some time to gather my things," Itachi finally muttered. That was a dirty move, but Jordan got what she wanted, and by extension, so did Sasuke. They wasted a little more time with Itachi, showing him around before the elder Uchiha had get going, he did have a meeting to get to after all, so as Jordan got her own car started, Sasuke walked his brother back to his.

No words were exchanged, no knowing looks. Itachi was unhappy, but Sasuke choose to ignore it in favor of all the good he was sure it would bring. He watched his brother get into his car and fight to start it.

"Itachi, hold on."

The elder looked up from the steering wheel as the engine sprung to life, his face sort of blank with the bags under his eyes pulling at him. From his pocket Sasuke produced a wad of cash and handed it to his brother. One week's salary was gone just like that, but he was fully prepared to hand it all he had over to his brother, he wasn't bothered at all. Itachi was struggling, it would be two thousand dollars well spent. Before the elder could protest, Sasuke revolved face and got back into the passenger seat of Jordan's car. The Chevy sat in the driveway a few more moments before he backed out and left the opposite way he came.

When he looked over to see why his own car wasn't moving, he meet Jordan's smug smirk.

"My, how selfless," She remarked, "or are you compensating for something?" She giggled a little, setting the wheels in motion. "You're too nice to him. Next time you broker a deal, I won't come help you."

Oh, so that was training.

"He's my brother," Sasuke replied in his defense, she outright laughed at him.

"At least it wasn't too big of a loss. That was a small chunk of change anyway compared to what I make. Do you know what I make? You should know, go on, ask me." She egged him on, grinning like mad as she floored it through a red light. Car horns blared around him and Sasuke found himself clutching his door for some sort of false security.

"How much do you make?" He asked, and he asked only because he knew she'd tell him anyway.

"I make ten million, four hundred thousand a year. That's five thousand an hour!" She was near cackling as she ducked into a gas station to avoid another red light, "I want some chocolate," she remarked absentmindedly, turning the sound system up. Sasuke rolled his eyes despite the fear they might jerk out of his head any moment as they went around a corner.

Work was work, tedious and boring, though on the way up the glass elevator, Sasuke did notice a larger than average group of newspaper journalists and news reporters. People took pictures of them, calmly, with their camera focus, but Jordan ignored them so Sasuke did too. After the last big fiasco, if you weren't employed by KMA, you didn't leave the ground floor. Regardless if they were always there, which they always were ("trying to sneak a peek at my next bright idea," Jordan would always say), the increasing number of reporters had him wondering. What did these people think was going on? Did they know something he didn't?

Probably not but it didn't stop him from worrying.

Today he and Jordan were doing staff reviews and rightfully so. They set a few aside to be fired and a few more to be audited and interviewed, most of the people they reviewed passed. The majority of these people were just worker ants oblivious to what their superiors were up to. It was better it stayed that way.

They'd be doing this for days, today they'd just reviewed the accounting division. Twelve more floors to go, figuring if they did one a day, they'd be busy for just short of two weeks. Well, hold on, they'd been late today. Whatever, it didn't actually matter. All that mattered was he had a distraction.

Jordan drove home, but something was different about the way she did it. She exaggerated a lot of her movements, when she braked, which she was doing an unusual lot today, she glided to a stop, and when she accelerated, it was a gentle increase, the expensive tires didn't squeal. At first, he again, thought something was wrong, and then it occurred to him that she was trying to give him a little driving lesson. This is how a person was supposed to drive, he knew that, but he was also fully aware this was an expensive sports car and it wasn't like it worked exactly the same as he was used to. He figured that shifter between them was going to give him the most trouble. His suspicions were confirmed when she pulled into the driveway and turned to him.

"Think you can do what I did?" She smirked, raising her eyebrows. Her expression was playful as she bailed out of the car, slid across the hood dramatically and switched spots with him. After adjusting the seat, he was all set to drive.

The gas was touchy and the brake sank a lot when he pushed it, but after stopping in the middle of three four way stops, cutting off a backing out truck and running a stop sign, he was well on his way to learning how to drive the four wheeled abomination. Yeah, he was exhausted from work and scared to death of totaling the car, but it was sort of fun at the same time. This was good for him, he reasoned, the winding streets of the housing complex they lived in were good for him, so he drove slowly, staying in first gear. Jordan knew the roads and the speed limits by heart, which was strange seeing as she saw speed limits as more of a suggestion, so she directed his unsteady hands.

"Your sure this is your first time driving?" She teased, laughing, "when do you think you'll be ready to go out on the roads?"

"Not today," he asserted, stepping on the break a little harder than he liked. The car stopped anyway, and he looked both ways down the street before proceeding.

"I wanna show you how to go faster," she replied smoothly, almost ignoring him. She pried his right hand of the wheel and put it on the shifter, letting her hand rest on top of his until he got the hang driving with one hand.

"Turn left," Jordan commanded, and suddenly he was on a long, narrow street, that was straighter than a ruler. "Step on the gas, ease on to it, but push it."

He pushed it, faster and faster, until it wouldn't accelerate any more.

"Hear that?" Jordan asked, and he could hear it. The motor whined in a sort of unfamiliar way, one he hadn't noticed before, "shift."

Before he could move his hand, she moved it for him, kicking the car into second. They accelerated along with the increasing RPMs. The car roared, carrying them forward, and then he heard it again, the engine rumbled, and he knew he had to shift it again. It was like he had a real jaguar under him, each stride was even and planned, gliding over the pavement as the concrete jungle parted. His speed would drop, he wasn't perfect with that gas pedal just yet, and the car would jump to life, growling like he'd spurred the big cat on. His excitement heightened as he shifted the car again and pushed, reaching a new top speed. He was flying, he had to be.

His head was swimming. His heart pounded. The speed, the sound, the thrill pricked his veins and nerves, sending adrenaline through his brain at a breakneck speed. His grip on the wheel tightened and he never once thought to so much as tap his brake.

"We have to slow down to turn," Jordan's voice reminded him that she was there. He'd almost forgot. After pressing the break, it was a nice easy flow to the stop sign. Jordan had showed him how to shift down, letting him get comfortable but keeping them both safe.

"Wanna get on the highway and drive, speed demon?" She removed her hand from his and smirked, taking her sunglasses off and putting them in a holder near the center console. Sasuke debated that for a while. Did he? He knew it wasn't good to exhaust yourself driving, but his mentor could take over if all else failed. Very slowly, he nodded. The woman's smirked turned in to a sneer, instructing him where to pull out and how to use the shortest distance to the highway with the least traffic. It was back to nerve wracking for a while, not knowing where other drivers were and unfamiliar with some of the road rules, but as he got on to the ramp and saw the highway in front of him, suddenly it didn't matter, he was leaving all of that in the dust.

It was amazing, being in control of this speeding wonder with a manual transmission. What he found even more amazing was the silence in the car. This was better than a walk, this was better than an action movie with junk food and soda, better than spending time with rich kids, and it was a million times better than where he'd been three weeks ago.

It'd been dark for some time by the time he decided to turn around. Round trip, he'd put almost a hundred miles on the car, not that it mattered. They'd need gas on the way back from work tomorrow, but that didn't matter either. When his feet touched the ground again after parking his new best friend in the garage, he felt a little wobbly, his right leg cramped a little, but it was a good ache. His night got even better when he found dinner all made up for him, caprese pasta salad, and Sasuke _loved_ tomatoes.

The dinner table stayed strangely quiet. Karin did most of the talking, telling them about her day or the latest scandal in her group of friends, she did in particularly mention wanting to go to a festival, and actually, it didn't seem like that bad of an outing. Jordan kept her mouth shut completely, very out of character but at the time it didn't seem out of place.

A mug of hot cider and both of his fluffy kittens were enough to keep him warm though the chilled fall night. It frosted, killing everything left alive this late in the year but the next morning the temperature rose with the sun, requiring only a mid weight jacket to keep warm.

The monotonous task of reviewing staff had waited for him overnight on his desk, well, Jordan's desk, but she made herself scarce right after they'd arrived, and he'd _inherit_ (was that the right word for it?) the thing eventually anyway, so it was pretty much his desk. In his eight hour work day he completed the maintenance, sanitation and the IT departments and prepped for the filing division tomorrow, because that's an entirely different can of worms.

After they arrived home, Jordan stalked off to her room. He'd decided days ago that she was spending all of her extra energy in deep, vindictive thought. He felt sorry for whoever it was that cost her team their spot in the finals. They should have known third place would have never been good enough.

Shedding his work clothes in exchange for a tshirt and some jeans, Sasuke sat back on the couch to watch a news program, something he wanted to get into the habit of doing. He wanted to monitor the company, inside and out and media was the best way to do so. The stock price hadn't moved much and KMA's name wasn't being drug through the mud or running across the bottom of the screen, so oh well. After that he flipped on some show about restoration of old stuff by some guy named Rick, a show he normally enjoyed, but today he wasn't paying a particular amount of attention.

The company meant a lot to him, it was his ticket to a better life, money and stability. The money was actually the only reason he stuck around, though mounting pounds of guilt and his personal code of ethics screaming at him. He was getting better at shoving those thoughts out of his head, but usually, especially times like now, those thoughts tugged at him.

Money was worth it, he reasoned, getting a safe place and cash to carry himself was worth it. He could retire in a few years, move someplace sunny, live the rest of his days without a care in the world.

But until then, the present day needed his attention, and a sandwich was calling his name.

He noticed Karin was gone about an hour after he changed his clothes and after he'd taken the first bite of his afternoon snack. She'd probably to that festival, but why hadn't she invited him? She always invited him. Unless..

Down the hall he heard Jordan's door creak shut and she arrived seconds later, making quite a grand entrance for a living room. She dressed in a long, pencil type skirt and heels so tall he wondered how she even walked. She wore those big framed glasses on, the ones with the Cs, the ones that covered most of her face.

"Sorry to just spring this on you sweetheart," she spoke, handing him a pair of sunglasses and one of her nicer cell phones, one he didn't see her use often. He didn't reply, only took the items, found the keys and got in the car. He'd expected his mentor to ride shotgun, she always rode shotgun, but tonight she eased herself in the the back seat and sighed.

A ball of nerves was growing in his gut and it wasn't from driving in traffic.

Jordan had Sasuke take her down town, where the company building was located, but instead of pulling into the parking garage they kept rolling down the four lane boulevard. Sasuke drove, and he kept driving, because Jordan never told him to stop. He drove out of the city and into the suburbs, and then into a smaller business district. He was familiar with the area, there was a strip mall nearby that his mother liked to go to, and after being instructed, he took a skinny, two laned side road behind the mall that was meant for semi-trucks making deliveries. Keeping a steady hand on the wheel, he missed the final turn that would have taken them into the mall, and kept rolling, streetlights growing fewer and fewer until only the car lights lit the path. Up ahead, a graffitied train engine blocked the road, set on rusted old tracks and it seemed he could no longer continue until the road dropped off down a steep hill and under the tracks.

"Stop the car," Jordan said coolly, her voice smooth and level with demand. He did like she asked, immediately, jerking them both foreword, the brakes screeching. Foot still firmly on the brake, he turned around to look at her through the darkness. Neither of them moved for a hot second.

"Turn off the headlights and turn on the parking brake. Don't want you sliding down the hill right?" She asked before continuing in the same tone, "okay, so, I'm going to get out and walk down to the bottom of the hill. After my meeting, I'll wave you on so you can bring the car to the bottom of the hill, I'm going to get back in the car, and then you're going to use that cell phone to call someone, the contact is labeled "H", and tell them this is a green light situation. Got all that?"

"Yes," he replied, keeping his mouth shut, refusing to voice any of his many worries.

"Easy in, easy out. It'll take five minutes, watch me," she grinned, bailing out of the car, but something in his gut didn't agree with that statement. He watched her go, her sky high heals clicking with every step and hips moving uncomfortably with the angle of the incline. She disappeared under the tracks, turning right and vanishing though a maintenance door built in to the hill.

Sasuke threw the car in park and pulled the parking brake, settling down with the radio low to wait for his mentor. He'd cut the lights and plunged everything into an eerie darkness. Five minutes came and left in no time. Then ten, fifteen, and still no Jordan.

She's just taking a few more minutes being careful, he reasoned, just making sure all of her points got across. Removing the parking brake and shifting the car to drive, very slowly Sasuke rode the brake to inch down the hill. He'd tell her a cop told him to move or something, he was dying to see what was going on. It had to mean good things for her to be gone so long, right?

Sasuke stopped the car when the maintenance door opened again and illuminated a small almost circular area, reaching only three or four feet outside the door. He couldn't see what was going on, but he could see a figure, very vaguely step out into the street. She was coming, on her way right now. Sasuke eased back off the brake. Three other figures followed, the door shut and snuffed out all the light.

Three quick flashes illuminated the space completely, the sound that followed each illumination reminded Sasuke of fireworks. Boom, boom, boom, one after another.

It was still and dark, blacker than pitch with no sound other than the gentle idle of the car engine. The other three figures were gone, not that Sasuke was able to see, and one lay crumpled on the ground, writhing in silent pain.

Sasuke's pupils blew wide and it took a second to sink in, then, he realized.


	8. Chapter 8: High Standards

p id="docs-internal-guid-34b3b140-36c1-8c7a-42d6-6f543f377059" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke wasn't sure how Jordan had wound up in the backseat, but she was, and he was flooring it down some strange road headed back into the suburbs. Later, he'd remember picking his mentor up off of the ground, her hands clenched over herself, trying to compress and stop the bleeding. When he approached, the silence faded in to sobbing and wailing. She'd been bleeding all over from a hole riding mid way in her abdomen, and she was still bleeding, making an atrocious moaning noise that bleed into words./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""They shot me! Those mother fuckers shot me!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke's foot felt like lead as he pressed it to the gas. She was gonna die, Jordan was gonna die, right here in the back seat, with him watching though the rear view mirror. He'd lose everything including his mind without her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"No matter how many times he opened his mouth to try to calm her screeching, he couldn't think of anything to say. It was hard enough to keep the car in the middle of the lane, but now at night, panicking, he was swerving all over the road. His forehead started to sweat and his hands got clammy, his stomach lurched, dropping what felt like a thousand feet./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"He started taking deep breathes, pacing himself and gripping the wheel tighter. He couldn't help her if he was having an anxiety attack himself. He needed to think, assess the situation. With her screaming in his ear, he could hardly drive. Best he could figure, Jordan needed to go to the hospital, and he was the only one who could take her there./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Flipping out the phone Jordan had lent him, he found Karin's number in the contacts, scrolling past the H contact to speed dial her number. Karin would know the roads he figured./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Hello?" She drawled, the noise and music of the event almost drowning her out./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I need directions from the strip mall to the hospital," he barked and suddenly the line went quiet. When she responded, she sounded panicked./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Is that Jordan?" She asked, referencing the creative cursing, pissing and moaning in the background./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Karin I need directions!" He shouted./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""You can't take her to the hospital! They'll call the cops!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""What the fuck do I do then?" He raved, losing his cool and almost losing control of the car./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Uh, uh," she stuttered, "did you call the contact? H? Call him, tell him this is a yellow light situation."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"He hung up without saying goodbye and scrolled through the contacts, selecting the letter H without a second thought. It rung one whole cycle, no answer, so he called again. It rang, and rang, and then a click./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Unless you're literally dying, I'm going to hang up," the voice came, sounding uninterested, grouchy and certainly tired./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Yes," Sasuke swallowed, "Jordan has asked me to call you. She asked me to tell you this is a yellow light situation."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Yellow light hm? That bad? Alright, What's your ETA?" The voice drawled./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I don't know, I can't find the highway," his voice reflected the panic he felt as he ran a red light. Going straight he was either getting closer to the destination or farther away, he hoped it was the former./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""The highway? You're by the strip mall right? Yeah, okay, I'm on Takizawa street, not that far, you don't need to get on the highway. I'm the sixth house on the right."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke vaguely knew where that was, between the mall and the company building, and he was headed the wrong way. Slamming on the breaks and throwing it in reverse, Sasuke wheeled the car around backwards via a driveway and sped back off. He hadn't noticed the car he'd break checked until it went spinning around him, laying on its horn. Looking back at he probably shouldn't have just stopped in the middle of a busy road, but then again he didn't care./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"When Sasuke pulled into the house on Takizawa street, a man stood outside in front of the garage door, puffing on a cigarette, but threw it down when the Jaguar's headlights hit him. Sasuke wouldn't find out until later that this man didn't actually have a medical degree, he couldn't afford it and he didn't care to put in the time. Of course he always found out the important things last./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""You're the contact?" Sasuke asked, nearly unhinging the door as he stepped out of the car in a hurry./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Yeah, sure, back seat?" The man asked, more like grumbled with no sense of urgency./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"The next thing he knew he was helping a stranger drag Jordan out of the bloodied back seat of the car. Sasuke caught one last look at it before they stepped into the house, the leather had been stained a dark charcoal on seats, blood pooled on the seams. It wasn't a lot of blood, she probably wasn't going to die just yet, it could have been worse./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Christ, what was he saying?/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"The three of them staggered into the house after throwing open a door. Jordan could walk, but she leaned heavily on the strange man with his arm slung around her, Sasuke was on her tail, trying to hold a bunched up part of her shirt against a hole in her back. He followed them quickly though a living room and a small kitchen, and then to a dining room. The house was sparsely furnished with a couch, a table set, a few lamps, a microwave and yellowed walls. It smelled like cigarette smoke and a chemical, bleach maybe. Sasuke wondered if anyone had ever died on this outdated carpet./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""H" pulled the tablecloth off of what Sasuke thought was a kitchen table, revealing itself to be an operating table. It shone silver it the low lighting, the edge was rimmed to hold blood off of the floor, and a jack was attached to a stand so one could raise or lower it to a comfortable level. The rim was put to good use as he was forced to sling Jordan on to the table. Within seconds the blood draining from her face was covering the table and soaking into her shirt./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Mother of God!" She uttered, coughing, choking, unable to forum many more coherent words./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""For fuck's sake, how'd you manage this?" The stranger growled, a new cigarette hanging haphazardly from his lips, and seconds later he was stabbing the needle from a morphine drip into her arm, not bothering to check if he'd done it properly or found the vein./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Squeeze this," he shouted, throwing the bag to Sasuke. The black haired boy shuttered to think what would have happened if he hadn't caught it. The next thing the stranger did was grab a pair of shears and cut the material of Jordan's shirt away, including her bra. The way "H" hissed, the man hadn't meant to do it, but it was already done and the woman under his hands was bleeding to death. He fished a long metal rod from somewhere, and Sasuke watched, horrified, as he stuck it down the bullet hole in Jordan's body. Her moans of pain suddenly became ear slitting screams as he poked around, looking for bullet fragments, and eventually Sasuke heard a metallic 'clink' as it hit the operating table./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Fucking son of a- squeeze that bag harder!" The man shouted over the set of lungs under him. When Sasuke looked up at him blankly, unsure if he should, the man shouted, "are you deaf?! I'm not gonna kill her, just squeeze!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"And he did. He watched his mentor's eyes go glassy as the stranger stood for a second, seeming unsure how to proceed./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Aren't you gonna stop the bleeding?" Sasuke asked, taking up Jordan's hand. Her fingers reached for his. This man was no doctor, he should have made Karin give him directions to the hospital./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Don't tell me how to work. I don't need anymore screaming," the man scowled, dropping what looked like a needle and string for stitches, going for a package of gauze and stuffing it in both sides of the gaping hole going literally though her. He'd underestimated the injury. The gauze turned red, the white cloth skipping pink and changing straight to a bright crimson as it saturated. How much blood was in a person?/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke hadn't noticed when, but Jordan was quiet now, her eyes glazed and probably so high from the morphine her head was literally numb. "H" pulled the drip from her arm and tied it off to prevent spillage, sticking the bag, needle and all back into his refrigerator, right next to his take out leftovers./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"They'd prevented Jordan from going into shock, and she was clotting by the second, so the man disappeared or a moment only to return with a tiny machine on squeaky wheels. It was an x-Ray, Sasuke decided, as he held it over her and took a picture./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"This man had short, slicked back hair that reminded Sasuke of a car salesman, platinum blonde if not white locks. With his head down, Sasuke couldn't see his eyes but he could see how pale his skin was, and how youthful he was, maybe twenty five? Sasuke wasn't sure. He left again, taking the machine with him, disappearing to a dark bedroom in the back of the house. Sasuke heard a lighter and smelled smoke, meaning he'd lit another cigarette to keep him company./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke pulled up a chair next to Jordan, still holding her hand through her grip was near limp. He had a jacket on but he removed it to drape over her, unsure if he did it to keep her warm or to keep her more sensitive parts from view. Parts of her anatomy she'd used to flirt with him didn't seem so sexual now. Seeing her breasts was different from having them pushed on him. He watched her chest rise and fall, sitting in silence. Silence felt so strange./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""H" reemerged from the back room, carrying the X-ray. He went around, turning off most of the lights and then removed a shade from a lamp. He held up the page, flicked on the lamp and then got a good look at it./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""She got shot just under her lung, above the stomach and right in between a pair of her ribs. She's pretty goddamn lucky if I do say so myself. The bad news is it just nicked her lung a little, but it didn't collapse so that's helpful. The good news though, it went right through her, no pieces splintered off or anything, so, yeah, she's gonna be okay," the man drawled after a moment, "how far away was the person that shot her?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke shrugged after thinking for a moment. The memory was getting a little more hazy with every passing minute. All he knew was that he'd seen three flashes, he didn't know what happened to the other two bullets and he didn't care. The man scratched his head over the picture for a couple more minutes, made a comment about her rib bones that didn't make much sense, and sat down on the couch./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Is she still bleeding?" The apprentice thought to ask, feeling her hand go a little bit more lax in his./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Internally you mean? Yeah," he coughed, taking a drag off his cigarette, "it'll stop."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke wanted to ask more questions, when was she going to wake up? How long until the bleeding stopped? Where were they going from here? He kept his mouth shut instead. He didn't want this jerk snapping at him. They sat in always silence for another fifteen minutes before Kakuzu arrived./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"They heard the roar of his engine as it pulled down the street, then the tires screeched to a halt, an ear splitting squeal of rubber and pavement. Somewhere outside a car door shut and Sasuke could practically hear the hellfire in the accountants steps as he strode to the door. Now would have been a perfect time to excuse himself to the bathroom, but even then he might not escape the accountants wrath. Kakuzu threw open the door and almost immediately flew into a raging, screaming fit./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Where are they? What's going on? So help me, if you killed her Hidan, I'll rip your intestines out and feed them to you!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Calm your shit!" The stranger, Hidan spat, narrowing his eyes and clenching his fists. He stayed seated on the couch, uninterested in starting a fist fight with the older man./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Kakuzu's eyes fell on Sasuke next and the boy could almost see his irises redden./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""You!" He shouted, "you fucked up little disaster! What have you done?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke's mouth fell open, stammering for words. The accountant charged him, and he stood, taking a step back, but the collar of his shirt still found its way into Kakuzu's grip./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I should kill you right now! You don't even know how many ways there are to dispose of a body!" He raved, his voice threatening to crack with the shear volume./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"The look on Kakuzu's face changed when something hit his arm. It made a dull 'pat' sound, uncoordinated and slow, but they both heard it. Jordan's hand, crusted in her own blood and week, touched her ex-husband's arm./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"The accountant dropped the boy almost immediately./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"All of a sudden his attention was diverted. He looked her over once and then twice before lifting the jacket to see the damage for himself. His eyebrows knitted and his scowl deepened, his fingers quivered as they traced the browning gauze. Jordan was laying still, in limbo between two worlds. Her big brown eyes were dull and empty looking, absentmindedly, Sasuke realized she'd lost her favorite pair of sunglasses. She held on to reality, just barely./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""When can I take her home?" Kakuzu asked. He didn't want to know how this happened and he didn't want to know why the little maggot sitting next to him hadn't done a thing to stop her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Pretty quick," Hidan replied as he ground his cancer stick into an ashtray, extinguishing the embers, "I wanted to talk to you about that. She's gotta take some days off. Move around too much and she'll rip the fucking stitches, and just because the bullet didn't hit anything doesn't mean the shockwaves did the same."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""She's got a lot of internal damage then?" The accountant asked, behind on the situation./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""No, the hole is pretty small. I'm gonna give her a steroid injection and then antibiotics. Do me a favor and hold her while I do her up?" Hidan rose and poked around the kitchen until he found a clean needle, more suture string, and a bottle of disinfectant flush. By the time he got it threaded and found a pair of forceps, Kakuzu had Jordan against his shoulder. Sasuke stood back as the men worked./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Hidan was especially careful with the needle, pulling it though and grabbing it with ease, making sure to tie the stitch off just right. He prepared a syringe next, flicking it lightly and testing the plunger before he gave it to her, gingerly this time with Kakuzu breathing down his neck. Seeing the inflamed, crusting, swelling, runny hole in his mentor made the apprentice sick, but he couldn't look away./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""You know, I see gang bangers in here all day, and I have never heard anybody complain as much as your ex, seriously," Hidan scoffed, grinning mischievously./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Shove it up your ass," Kakuzu growled. The platinum haired man laughed hoarsely and went on with his work. In retrospect, the med school drop out should have flushed out the wound before he sewed it up, but the fact he did it at all was satisfactory. They left the house just shy of five thousand dollars later. Apparently getting patched up in someone's home was pricier than a hospital, but it came with evidence disposal and the quack doctor's silence too. Kakuzu carried Jordan out of the house and lay her gently in his back seat. The accountant sped off before Sasuke could even ask what he wanted done, so Sasuke took the hint to take the Jaguar and he left the suburbs too./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Driving under the speed limit and taking back roads to avoid any unwanted attention, it took longer for him to get home than it did for Kakuzu to arrive, find Karin a job to calm her nerves and get Jordan into bed. When Sasuke arrived the redheaded housekeeper had a batch of muffins in the oven and more in the works. She offered him one of her little white pills as he walked by, but he politely declined./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"The living room lights were on but the hall lights were not. Sasuke passed the light switch on his way to Jordan's room. When he pushed open the starch white door Kakuzu already had his ex wife in bed. Her eyes were closed, deep in sleep that resembled death. Upon close inspection, her chest still rose and fell and her color was improving./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Sasuke had never actually been in this room before. It smelled like that perfume she always wore, like jasmine, and her expensive shampoo he sometimes bummed in the shower. It smelled like her, exactly the way he was used to. The bedside lamp was on, giving the room a soft glow, bouncing off tan walls, casting light onto a glinting collection of sunglasses and her overly ornate headboard. Sasuke wondered why, if roses covered every surface in the room, an accent wall via wallpaper, cast iron flowers on her bed frame, sewn into the fabric of her bed spread, she didn't own any rose plants./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Don't bug her, okay Rug Rat? She needs some rest. I'll bring her pills over tomorrow before work," Kakuzu's deep voice rumbled from his place seated next to her on the bed. The clock next to him read three thirty. Sasuke didn't answer./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I can't believe you just let her do this, I can't believe she did this at all," he remarked, sighing and putting his head in his hand./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""What was I supposed to do?" Sasuke retorted. No way this old bastard was going to implicate him for anything else. This wasn't his fault./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""She makes a lot of bad decisions, you have to stop her," He rubbed his eyelids a moment before he looked up, tired and frustrated./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Like she'd listen to me." The younger replied, his tone short./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""She's wrapped around your goddamn finger!" The older cursed, trying hard to keep his voice down, "She's completely obsessed with you!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""That's what this is about."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"He was quiet. Sasuke had seen Kakuzu quiet and it usually came before a colorful string of insult spewing anger. It wasn't a secret. Everyone in their circle knew Jordan was all over him. They saw every one of her advances he choose to ignore. It was also pretty plain to see Kakuzu on the sidelines, glowering for that attention in a tight knit ball of jealously. Instead of screaming, Kakuzu continued in a level tone, blinking slowly and standing up to leave the room./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I should have figured."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"The older man, which by all means should have kicked him out and fired him, put a hand on each of Sasuke's shoulders and looked down at him./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""You're the man of the house," which roughly translated to "this is still all your fault" in old man lingo, "So you get to stay up and watch her."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"And then he breezed through the doorway, shutting the door behind him, assumably to find a blanket and catch a nap if he could. Apparently he was sleeping over now? These people still planned on going to work tomorrow? Fuck that, Sasuke was taking a sick day. Settling down in the low lighting on the unoccupied side of the bed, Sasuke pulled out his phone and replied to all his missed text messages./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"He had to think about what Kakuzu said to him. According to him, Jordan should be worshiping him, but instead he was doing all her dirty deeds. He shouldn't feel guilty or afraid after every day of work. Another one of those nasty, manipulative ideas crawled into his head as he looked over at his mentor. Kakuzu hadn't meant that things hinged on him, but they could certainly sway. Jordan did make a lot of bad decisions, and he could stop that. All he had to was get Jordan in a frame of mind where she thought his opinions mattered. A frame of mind where she would listen to orders instead of give them out./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"That was nearly impossible with her personality type, she couldn't ever stop giving orders, but maybe he could get her to give his orders. He'd bartered his virginity once and he'd do it again./span/p 


	9. Chapter 9: Hard work and Effort

In the early morning hours of the next morning, Sasuke's eyes cracked open, unaware of their surroundings as his hand reached over to pull his alarm off of his nightstand. He realized where he was when he didn't find it there. His phone alarm was still going off, the bothersome beeping sending him scrambling to shut it off before it woke his mentor. He didn't succeed. His smart phone lay tangled in the sheet between them but her hands closed around it before his.

"Good morning," she murmured.

As his eyes came into focus, so did her frazzled hair, dirty and messy, and her face, still sort of pale and equally as dirty.

"Good morning," he murmured back. He would have liked not to answer her at all, but he had to if he was going to draw himself closer to her. She smiled at him, sleepily and seemingly happy. She'd gotten shot less than twelve hours ago and she still had it in her to smile?

"I only slept three hours," he groaned and rolled over on to his back and closed his eyes. How nice it'd be to to just go back to sleep.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," she sighed, snaking her arm through the covers to press his phone into his palm. Her hand lingered on his and he didn't pull away as much as he wanted to.

"So, when you go to work today, you can give those staff reviews to Nagato if you want. You've got bigger fish to fry," he could hear her grin. Oh no.

"When you go to Nagato's office, hand him those papers, but make sure to grab the ones labeled 'KMA doc three forty seven. Call me and I'll help you after that."

"Is that where you go? When you leave me in the office I mean," he asked, turning his head to look at her. She brushed her dark hair back with her fingers, making a face when it knotted and pulled her scalp.

"Yeah. It's very important," she grinned.

"What does KMA stand for, exactly?" He inquired. It was worth asking, it was a question he'd been meaning to ask for a while now. He kept watching her as she sat up, realized she was topless and turned so he couldn't see. She looked down, checking her bandage, and the huffed, flopping back on to the plush mattress.

"Well, on paper it stands for Kazuki Manufacturing Association, incorporated, but actually," she laughed, "it stands for Kiss My Ass."

He stifled a laugh too.

"Mkay, go to work, lazy," she tried half heartedly to push him out of bed. She didn't want him to leave, and he knew that, but he also knew he had to go to work. He drug himself to the shower and then to his closet. Karin was passed out on the couch when he walked by, and as he went for the keys on the kitchen counter, he discovered a hundred (or better) muffins littered on every surface. Banana nut, blueberry, pumpkin, raspberry, any flavor muffin a heart could desire and then some that smelled downright disgusting. With Kakuzu already gone to work, it was obvious he'd have to drive himself, not that he wasn't prepared to, and he'd have a snack while he was doing it.

Driving the jaguar down the highway in traffic was stressful, but it wasn't like Sasuke couldn't coap. He'd turned Jordan's rap music off in favor of some alternative rock and kept it low as he changed lanes and made his way down town. Once off at the exit he was only three packed traffic lights away from the parking garage.

It felt good to hand the valet the keys, it felt good to have the confidence to drive himself. People got out of his way now. Men with brief cases and women toting stacks of paper parted as he walked through the lobby, he didn't need Jordan's powerful steps to scare them out of his way, he could do it himself. On his way up the elevator, the growing number of newspaper journalists failed to catch his eye, he was far too important.

He made it all the way up to his office and got settled, placing his muffins down on the desk as he started the computer, switched on the printer and flipped the switch to get his phone system turned on. He'd eaten his way through two blueberry muffins by the time he got all the staff reviews around and ready to go and then rode the elevator down. Nagato's office was protected by a number lock door, to prevent anyone uninvited from barging in, but the password was easy, Jordan's birthday, so the charcoal haired boy didn't worry. Today was going off without a hitch. Behind the door was a hallway, long and painted a bright blue reminiscent of the color of the sky, which was nice as no windows to the outside were visible. Sasuke had to go through two more number locks doors and a thumb print scanner to get to the ginger haired man.

Honestly he was surprised the system took his print.

Nagato was behind one final door, decorated with a spiral design, alternating navy blue and black. The redhead was sitting at his desk, facing the west and watching four computer monitors mounted to the wall. The desk itself looked expensive, antique, dark wood, black walnut maybe, but it had been absolutely trashed, covered in coffee cup rings and paper of every sort, shape, size and color. When Sasuke entered the room, the monitors went dark.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" The pale skinned man asked, twisting his spinning office chair to face him. His expression was stoic, not really empty faced, but hard to read. Put off was a good word.

"I was sent for three forty seven," Sasuke asserted, sort of matter o' factly. He held out the staff review papers in an attempt to trade. Nagato eyed the pages, but didn't take them.

"who sent you?" Nagato questioned. Why all of a sudden was he so suspicious?

"Jordan. She wants me to complete them," Sasuke answered, laying the papers down on the corner of the desk. The redhead didn't respond for a few moments.

Nagato turned away, flipping a monitor back on and watched numbers and symbols flash across the screen for another moment, and then began digging in his desk, "How's she doing?"

"Fine, she seemed happy this morning."

"She was up already?" The redhead asked, looking away from his paper with raised eyebrows to meet his gaze.

"No," Sasuke replied. Nagato's eyebrows raised further.

"Don't be getting any ideas. Those threats Kakuzu made weren't empty, and I know he's threatened you, If you lay a hand on her, you'll be vomiting chunks of your fingers for weeks," Nagato spoke almost like he was offering advice. Sasuke choose not to respond.

"Here we go!" He said finally, producing a normal looking Manila folder and a white envelope. Suddenly a look of remembrance crossed his features and he fished another something out of another drawer.

"I figured you'd need one of these," he said, laying down a small, laminated card. It was a driver's license, a good forgery too. It had all his correct information and everything, right down to his date of birth. Sasuke didn't want to know where he'd gotten all this from.

"Thanks," the younger man muttered, sticking the license into his back pocket and picking up the folder and the envelope.

"Don't mention it," the ginger grinned, "and don't worry any more about what happened last night, okay?"

"Okay."

Those men would be dead in a few hours, Sasuke decided, and Jordan would have her money. The dark haired boy felt like he was walking on eggshells as he retreated back to his office. The first thumbprint door closed behind him, and a sort of air compressed locking system activated. Sasuke didn't even try to get back in, he knew he wouldn't be able to.

Once he was seated back at his desk, he breezed through the packet of papers contained in the Manila folder. The mammoth twenty page packet was printed front and back, and held together by a single staple. Written on its pages were a bunch of nonsensical monetary values in very small print, each page laid out with labels and vague handwritten notes on the sides. In the envelope was a flash drive.

As if she'd known, the phone rang and Jordan was on the other line.

"I thought you were supposed to call me?" He could hear her smirking. She was in a good mood, like she'd gone back to sleep after he'd left. He didn't doubt it.

"I just sat down," Sasuke replied.

"Mkay, well, is the computer on? Don't touch the flash drive yet, okay? Okay. So, in the folder is another folder labeled KMTT15, so open that," she paused to allow him time to do ask she asked. It took just a moment to lay all the papers out on his desk, "And inside the folder is two more folders, right? Grab the one labeled KMATT14. "

Spreadsheet upon spread sheet lay out in front of him, some columns waiting to be filled with numbers, others already full. There were twenty four pages of unfamiliar sheets labeled 'CITY OF KONOHA BUSINESS TAX: LONG FORM' just in the first pack, twenty six in the next, plus endless sticky notes and scribbled on instruction pages.

"Don't you think you could have found someone better?" He asked, honestly a little panicked. Taxes? Aren't those really important? And she had him doing them?!

"You'll be fine, I made some calls this morning before you woke up. Nagato will take care of it after you go home, don't worry about it," Jordan mused. She'd made calls on his cell phone? How did she know his password?

"So, uh, just start highlighting numbers, yellow if the same, blue if anything different. Anything over one hundred thousand, underline it in pink. Take all the yellow numbers, average them, and then write them in on a new forum, there are extras in the third folder. Think you got all that? I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye!" And then she was gone. Sasuke huffed. He had another seven hours of this, well, six and then lunch, but someone usually brought him his lunch so he could work though it. Jordan usually gave him busy work, but this was something else. He wasn't sure what this was for, but Satan himself had probably created it. A head ache hit him at ten thirty, and it was a migraine by eleven. He'd spent an hour trying to input one row, looking back and fourth, paper to paper, and then double check to make sure it was right, and then loose his place two more times before he could move on to another number. He wasn't sure if he'd made any progress by lunch time, and he gladly took his full hour lunch break. Annoyance had set in early, but three pages in and he was downright irritated now. Who put him in charge of taxes? Certainly not a bright idea.

He wasn't sure what time it was when Nagato walked in with the staff review papers, but glancing at his phone, he saw he still had an hour and a half to go before the end of the day.

"How's it coming?" He asked, as if Sasuke hadn't spent his day worried sick he was fucking up the corporate taxes. It wasn't like that was a huge deal, oh, not at all.

"I have no idea what I'm doing, what do you think?" Sasuke growled, narrowing his eyes at the older man. Seriously, did these people think have that much faith in a new hire? Nagato came around the desk at a leisurely pace, sitting the paperwork down, and leaned down. He got a little closer, brushed off his pale blue dress shirt and peered at the sheet of averages.

"That's pretty good, actually."

"What? Whats good? I don't understand. Do you know how many numbers are on this first sheet? Do you know how many of them get highlighted? Why me?" The younger demanded, scowling deeply, angry creases appearing on his forehead. His anxiety had been boiling all day. He'd managed to shove it out of his mind, to focus on the task at hand, but it was so easy to just fly off the handle. Taxes? Come on! If he fucked these up, he'd fuck the entire company up right? What about the calculator he was using? What if it rounded his decimals when it wasn't supposed to, or, or, what if he was inputting the wrong numbers all together? Nagato stood up straight, looking a little nervous himself, cleared his throat.

"I had my own mess in the system to clean up, I'm sorry I couldn't have offered you any help. I'm finished now, I'll go back though and check your work."

"Thanks for the consolation," Sasuke shot back sarcastically. The older man eyed him a moment, his glance full of mistrust.

"Is there something you would have liked me to have done differently?"

That caught the younger off guard. He would have taken a step back if he would have been standing. The offer seemed genuine.

"I don't think I'm the best person to be doing this," Sasuke replied, adjusting his tone. No way was someone actually taking him seriously?

"This is very sensitive material, as you could probably imagine. Jordan usually does these herself, you're the only person besides me that she'd allow to touch them, and as I said I was busy," Nagato paused to loosen his tie a little and then adjusted his pin keeping it in place. Then he glanced down at his watch and compared it to the time on the computer, but made eye contact again when he resumed speaking, "am I correct in thinking this is too much for you?"

No. No, no, no, that was the last thing he wanted, "I can keep up."

"Alright," Nagato seemingly agreed after giving it some thought, "you can go home for today, I've got it from here."

The men traded spots. Sasuke didn't need any more reason to leave. He did admit to himself that it was nice driving home with a license, no matter if it was fake. He felt so secure now, you know, besides driving a death wish made of metal. When he returned home, he was surprised to find Naruto, Suigetsu and Karin in the kitchen, but not Jordan.

"Hey!" Naruto was quick to greet, "you have a good day?"

"It was fine," Sasuke replied, trying to breeze past and ignore him, and if it would have Naruto by himself he could have done it, but Suigetsu was quick to get in his way too, and then Karin started in blabbering and soon he was stuck in their clutches.

"We went to a Harvest festival last night, and we wanted to all go again, you'll come won't you? It'll be more fun!" Karin grinned in a way that reminded him of Jordan. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and took a step back.

"I had a long day," he asserted, and it looked like Naruto and Suigetsu were going to back off, but Karin knew his mentor's tactics better than he did.

"Oh please, you sat at a desk all day while I took care of her royal highness. If I have energy to go, so do you," she shot back. Sasuke groaned.

"Let me change my cloths."

The conversation his three friend had been having before he walked in resumed as Sasuke left the room.

There was never a shortage of clean clothes in Sasuke's closet, in fact it was rare he'd come home and the outfit he'd wore yesterday wasn't hanging back up, washed and clean. The only bad thing about Karin doing his laundry was that sometimes his boxers went missing, and a few of his favorite shirts too, only to reappear a week or so later when something else went missing. He knew it was her too, and as much as he wanted to say something, he decided it was better for his health if he didn't. Currently it was his black v neck shirt missing, but he could just as easily wear that brown longs sleeved shirt he wore last week, and of course that pair of jeans he had broke in just right. Sure okay, he was as ready as he'd ever be. He'd just closed the door to his room with an audible click when the light flicked on in the hallway. His room was on the end, where the wall stopped and opened up to the living room, and the switch in front of him hadn't been touched, so he looked to his right. Two doors down was Jordan's room, and she was standing in the doorway, one hand on the light switch.

"I thought I heard you come home," she said softly, smiling warmly. She let the hand on the switch fall but as soon as it went to her side, she again moved it to press over her wound.

"Are you okay?" He asked, feeling sort of concerned (was that the word for this feeling?). He took a few steps to bring them closer together, but stopped when she held up a hand.

"It's just throbbing a little, don't worry. Are you still mad about all the stuff I had you do today?" She'd asked her tone gentle and not assuming. Nagato had called her? Seriously? Seriously?

"No, I'm fine. It was just a little, um," he searched for the right word, his tone reflecting the tiny ball of annoyance that was provoked, "it wasn't explained well to me."

"I'm sorry, if I could have wrote you some better instructions I would have. Tomorrow will be better," she tried to assure, still smiling. Okay, so that was another one of those sneaky illegal things, apparently. That was usually the reason why she didn't go into detail, so it was pretty safe to assume. Sasuke realized he should be getting used to this. At this point he didn't even want to know, his migraine was still eating at him.

"Okay," Sasuke decided to settle for okay.

"Have fun! See you when you get home," she grinned, and then she turned the light back off to slink back on to her room. Sasuke stood there for a moment unmoving. That was either genuine good wishes or flirting. Either way that was the most motherly conversation anyone had ever had with him. Karin called him from the kitchen, and the group left the house.

The harvest fest was about forty minutes away, in a little side township beyond of the suburbs. Coming in off the highway was well developed with fast food and chain businesses, but the other side of town was mom and pop stores, leading out into the countryside. Downtown had an atmosphere of small town USA, big windows in the fronts of tiny shops decorated to the nines with pumpkins and colored leaf garlands. Christmas lights were strung across lamp posts, black and orange signs directed foot traffic, and other, lower to the ground signs directed children for a trick or treat event. For being so far out, it was a challenge to find parking, but Suigetsu finally got his brother's Dodge Charger in to a spot.

The first thing on the list of things to do was caramel apples. Sasuke wasn't fond of caramel, especially since it stuck hopelessly to his fingers, his teeth and the roof of his mouth. He ate it, but he didn't like it.

"Jordan's got me getting ideas for her party, I think I really like the lights idea," Karin mused, munching on her own apple as they strode through town, "I like the cute little cutouts in the windows too, but it's gotta be scarier."

"It's for the kids," Naruto interjected, using his sleeve to wipe his mouth, "I miss Halloween! I miss being a kid!"

"You never grew up, dolt," Suigetsu snickered, throwing his stick into a trash can as they passed.

"Shut up! At least I can get through a conversation with a 'yo mama' joke!" Naruto shot back, but then seemingly forgot about the insult, "Can we find some cider guys? Please?"

No one said anything, the group of four kept walking, now on the lookout for warm, spiced, liquid gold. They found it in a beer tent set up in the square, serving nonalcoholic beverages too with a live band playing nearby.

"The only one that doesn't suck is the drummer!" Suigetsu stated, chugging his styrofoam cup and low key ladling himself more out of a crockpot, just out of view of the elderly ladies running the tent. Naruto eagerly stuck his cup under there too. The last thing he needed was more sugar but Sasuke didn't say anything.

"You forgot to add your mom on to that list," Naruto snickered, about to get Suigetsu back for earlier, "she'd rather blow."

That was how they got kicked out of the beer tent, a white haired woman with wrinkles that put a Shar-Pei dog to shame slapped Naruto in the back of the head with wooden spoon and told them they should be ashamed out themselves the whole way out. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke should have told her that he wasn't with them, stayed behind with cookies and a mildly comfortable chair, but instead he was back walking down the street.

"Wait a second, Juugo didn't come?" Sasuke questioned. He wasn't sure how he'd forgotten about his well built friend, but he had.

"Nah, He said he was doing something with his brother, cousin, or whatever," Suigetsu replied, taking a swig of pop from a can that 'magically' appeared in his grip, "hey, you guys wanna go back to the carnival?"

Down the street, up ahead was one of those generic, overpriced, traveling carnival set ups, lit up already in the fading autumn light. No ferris wheel, but they had a midway, a tilt-o-whirl, a fun house of mirrors and one of those big slide things. It was surprisingly empty, short lines and less children than their should have been, but then Sasuke remembered that trick or treat event from earlier. Naruto was the first to run off, all too eager to find the most dangerous piece of equipment and ride it a million times for the second day in a row. Suigetsu was lagging behind, but fallowing, trying not to look to excited just to keep up his cool guy image.

"You coming?" Karin asked, staying put. Sasuke was standing still, sort of off in space as he watched them go.

"No, rides make me sick," he lied, sticking his hands in his pockets and blinking slowly. Naruto had already found his ride, strapped in and ready to rock next to Suigetsu. The blonde motioned him over, waving and grinning like the idiot he was. Though signs all over boasted the safety ratings of the rides, Sasuke had to admit that thing looked like a nightmare.

"He's gonna throw that apple back up and I don't care to be around for it," Karin grinned, the hint of a giggle in her tone. Sasuke didn't respond. The ride got started and the pair watched the two boys lift into the air, spinning with the ride and jerking as it mechanically defied gravity. They could hear Naruto screaming and the ride's joints screeching, it's lights flashed and music played.

"Are you having fun?" Karin asked, brushing her long red hair over her shoulder and adjusting her glasses so they sat just right on her nose.

"No," Sasuke blurted. When he saw her face fall, he decided he should have lied again and reminded himself there was a reason he tried to be considerate. He looked away and back to the ride, tilting and turning, still spinning and spiraling, Naruto still screaming.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

He turned his head and looked down at her. She was smiling at him, genuinely, her lips upturned and her eyes scrunching in that happy way only hers did. He wasn't sure if Jordan had said something to her or not. It wasn't likely.

He did like walks.

"Sure," he answered.

Walking with Karin was only awkward for a few steps. The redhead was a talker and Sasuke was glad for that, it meant he didn't have to think of things to say, even if he didn't care about half the things she was saying. They'd made it back near the beer tent before she asked Sasuke a question, "So, your cats have names don't they?"

"Yes," he replied, giving her a sideways glance, "Fuji and Gin."

"I'm glad to put names to faces! Anyway, like I was saying, so Tuesday I was cleaning floors right? Okay, and I get done with my mop water and go to dump it in the bathroom sink, so, I'm carrying this heavy ass bucket, and those two little shits are laying, washing each other in the sink!" Karin was smiling, using her whole body to convey her joy, "so, I tell them to get a room, dump my water in the bathtub and leave. So that was the day you and Jordan didn't have a bunch to do and we went out to eat remember? Okay so," she continued in her vague valley girl way she spoke. "You know, we should do this more often. Anyway, how's your brother doing? He moved in right?"

"Fine I suppose," Sasuke answered, thinking back to a couple text messages he'd received from Itachi, "I haven't seen him."

"That's a shame, we'll have to make a trip! Are you two close?" Karin pestered.

"No," Sasuke huffed.

"Why not?" She asked, unaware of what she was prying into.

"I was sort of young when Itachi left home. I only saw him at major holidays for a while," he explained.

"Oh! My family was like that too! Except, I don't have a brother, and it was my mom and dad," Karin offered, sympathizing.

"Oh?" Sasuke asked, hoping she was going to answer all the questions he'd been wondering this whole time.

"Mhm, anyway, does your brother have a girlfriend?" She replied. Damn! Okay, well, his small set of social skills told him that if he wanted her to tell more, _more than she already was_, he'd have to tell more too. Sasuke was quiet for a few steps, contemplating his answer before beginning again quietly, "Well, no, but Itachi has this _thing_ for our cousin."

He heard her gasp and then squeal like she could hardly stand not knowing. He knew she loved gossip, but he didn't think she'd end up clinging to his arm and shaking him as they walked.

"Well," Sasuke tip toed, unsure how much he should say. If his mother could see him, she'd be pinching the back of his arm so hard he'd be the one squealing, but he kept talking anyway, "Itachi's obsessed with him, it's weird. He's like my step cousin, so he's not actually related, but it pretty much looks like incest."

"Oh my god! You've got to be kidding me! Unbelievable! We're going to have to invite them to our Halloween party. I have just got to see this for myself. Oh my god!" She shrieked.

That struck Sasuke as funny. His shoulders shook and his chest rumbled, which lead to a few giggles escaping under his breathe. She was laughing too, a little at him and a little at herself. It was nice to listen to Karin, it was nice to just spend time being a teenager, with friends. No one here was trying to get him to break the law or teach him or waste his time.

Karin wiped her eye with her thumb, careful not to smudge her makeup or get prints on her glasses, letting the last few half laughs and the rest of her titters out.

"You know," she began, "this place is so lame, I only agreed to come because Naruto begged me."

"Nice of you to rope me into it," he joked, but for a second she couldn't tell he was joking. He offered her a half smile, eyebrows raised, and then she understood and mocked his expression.

"Wanna go steal candy from those trick or treat things?" She asked in all seriousness, a glint of mischief in the glare of her glasses.

"Isn't it a free event?" He dared ask, she smirked.

"Yeah, but it sounds more fun the way I say it."

He didn't argue with her there.

Sasuke thought that two almost grown teenagers could find an event so well labeled a child could find it, but apparently not. After forty five minutes and many "well where the fuck is it?" phrases later, they finally found the fifth candy station, and raided it for a mini pack of sweet tarts each. The path was well lit after that, besides bustling with kids, so the teenagers decided to just forget about the first four stops along the way and follow the foot traffic. They ate as they went, shoving wrappers in their pockets and trading things they didn't like.

Karin fawned over kids in costumes, mostly princesses and fairies, and making a point to tell him about little features in her own costume she was planning. He nodded right along with her.

"Your dressing up too right? For the party?" She asked, swirling a sucker around in her mouth.

"Probably not," he replied, working his way through a package of those gummy rings and wishing they were hard candy instead.

"Oh but you've got to! Hinata can sew, and she's teaching me, It'll be fun!" She whined, shoving a fun sized candy bar his way. Vaguely he remembered Hinata, the shy girl from the mall trip, the one making goo goo eyes at Naruto the whole time. That dorky little girl probably knitted too.

"No," he said, taking it and handed her the rest if the gummy rings.

"Yes! I promise it won't look stupid!" She attached herself to his arm and pulled on him for a few steps before he peeled her off. Inwardly he groaned. She wasn't going to take no for an answer, again, and he'd be stuck with whatever they wanted, again. But this wasn't like it was at work.

It probably wouldn't be so bad. As much as he hated making a mockery of himself, as much as he hated the immature games these rich kids played, secretly he wasn't going to mind it, secretly he was just a teeny, tiny, itty bit excited. God forbid anyone catch on though.

Suigetsu found them at the end of the route, he'd brought the car around but needed help pulling Naruto out of that ride. It was time to leave and the blonde was too drunk on adrenaline to care. This was a job for her, Karin decided, and she took off to find her cousin. Ten minutes, a well thrown punch and a goose egg later, the redhead towed her vertigo induced, stumbling cousin into the back seat with her. She was fuming, but both Uzumakis were seat belted in for the long ride home. Karin lectured her cousin the whole way home, but hugged him when they dropped him off. Sasuke wondered if she longed to stay at the Orange Twit's house with him. He decided not the way she talked about him after climbing out of the car at their own house.

Sasuke was just glad it was Karin having to deal with Naruto and not himself.

"I swear! It's like he's five! Time to go means time to go!" The redhead ranted, "and 'now' means book it before I hurt you! The day he grows a brain is the day I eat my left shoe, I swear."

Karin was first in the house, pushing open the unlocked front door and throwing her purse down on the bench near the door used to hide a shoe rack. Sasuke was right behind her, peeling of his sneakers and picking them up to carry into his room. He didn't like leaving his things out, he thought it looked messy.

He took a deep breathe of home and closed the door, locking it up tight. He had some leftover candy, and as tempting as it was to slink off to bed like Karin had, he thought it wouldn't hurt to share some of his left overs with his mentor. He had to remind himself why he was doing this, to get close to her. His mother always said he'd catch more flies with honey than he would vinegar. Sasuke was on his way to the living room, to hopefully find Jordan, when the yelling started. Kakuzu was over by the sound of it, and he'd lost his temper by the sounds of it. Again.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have quite a few tendencies that resemble a _psychopath_? " kakuzu growled, voice loud and practically raving.

"Sociopath dear," He could hear Jordan grinning.

Deciding it was in his best interest to wait for Kakuzu to leave, Sasuke gave only as a single, quick good night as he snuck through the living room on his way to his room, he didn't even spare the adults a look. His first instinct was to shut and lock his door, but the inner cheat he was becoming from spending long days at the office told him to leave the door open, just a little, so he could hear their conversation.

"I'm telling you! You need to be more careful! You can't do this to me anymore, you can't do this to them!" The accountant replied, voice like a dull roar. It sounded like they were talking about last night.

"Will you shut up!? You're gonna wake up the kids! Besides, Sasuke and Karin did exactly like I told them, they were fine, and your fine too," Jordan snapped back, her voice hushed. Kakuzu replied but Sasuke couldn't make out any of the grumbled words.

"Fine. Well whatever, It doesn't matter," Jordan replied, huffing and clearly frustrated.

Kakuzu spoke again, still grumbling and still inaudible.

"Yeah. Well, his father called tonight while he was out. I'm not sure if I should tell him. I mean, I have no idea what his home life was like, he won't tell me," was Jordan's response.

"If his brother needed your help too, I'd say it's pretty piss poor where they come from. Don't mention it to him," finally Kakuzu's voice was clear.

"Okay," Jordan spoke, and best Sasuke could figure, she moved to sit either on or near the older man in the room with her, because Kakuzu grunted. He thought he heard her say something else, but she was talking so quietly it was hard to make out her words. That was there Sasuke drew the line because he could assume what was going to happen next. He got up and silently closed the door. When he returned to his warm, comfortable bed he realized how tired he was. Feeling secure and wanted, he fell asleep with Fuji curled behind his legs.


	10. Chapter 10: Halloween

Hi guys! I'm back again, this chapter was written in between college sign ups, the state horse show and the fair, which i showed all week! Uni starts next week on Wednesday or me, so hang on! Give me your feed back! its how i know I'm doing a good job/ need to change things!

And now, without further wait, ( or maybe you not excited?) There is a sexually explicit warning ahead!

* * *

October thirty-first fell on a Tuesday, a goosebump giving, chilly morning that would have been the been best for sleeping in. The leaves fell quicker from the trees lately. It'd rained the past two days, knocking anything loose down to the ground and making little kids grumble when their leaf jumping piles were soggy rather than crunchy. Sasuke had the day off, or rather, the entire company had the day off to 'observe the holiday' and 'spend time with family' but Sasuke would figure out the real reasoning by mid-day.

Two and a half weeks of rest was too much for Jordan, gunshot or not, and Sasuke was baring that weight. She'd come in to his room at five in the morning and woke his sorry ass up, insisting on starting on party preparations.

"I'm tired," Sasuke tried to protest, groaning and covering his face with his arm, but she only pulled the covers off of him and threatened to send Karin in after him if he didn't get up. He was driving to some store in butt fucked Egypt an hour later to get dry ice and he didn't like one bit of it. By eight, Jordan, Karin, and himself had arrived the party house, much to the surprise of his brother, and started setting up. Poor Itachi, who looked like he'd been drug through a sewer drain, wasn't sure what to make of it at first allowed himself to be roped into helping after a shower and some time to wake up fully.

Jordan had dealt out a relatively easy task list for them, hang close to a hundred corny looking plastic bats from the ceiling, put up cheap Halloween themed garland around the stair banister and around the edge of the kitchen counters and then start on putting down plastic table cloths, all to be finished using only clear tape.

Itachi fought with a ball of string and the tape, cutting and tying and measuring out strips of tape needed to keep the heavy hunk of of blackened plastic bat from him from falling and hitting some party goer in the head. His older brother bumped his leg when he was ready, enough tape stuck to each of his fingers to keep the object stuck to its spot. Sighing, Sasuke took the bat, climbing up one step higher on a step ladder to stick the thing in place, and took strips of tape as needed off his brother's hand.

"Sasuke," Itachi began after clearing his throat, he paused, clearing his throat again in hesitance, waiting until his younger brother looked down at him to make eye contact.

"I was just wondering," the older stated, his expression unreadable. It had Sasuke narrowing his eyes.

"I was just wondering," he began carefully, but didn't speak again after pausing. Karin worked on drinks, her own to do list including setting out an army of black, purple, and orange solo cups, cleaning a four gallon punch bowl out and then proceed to scour the Internet for punch recipes involving a large bottle of grey goose. Jordan was outside, messing with the pool filter. She sat cross-legged on the cold concrete, her hands deep in the inter workings with a five gallon bucket of orange food coloring sitting next to her.

They couldn't hear whatever it was he was going to say, but for whatever reason he still refused to say it.

"Spit it out," Sasuke commanded, taking charge of the conversation like he'd been coached to. It took Itachi off guard.

"I was just wondering if you, well, if you and those girls..." He trailed off.

"I'm not sleeping with them, no. In fact, I hardly get any god damn sleep at all," he spat, offended. That was just like his brother to ask him something like that, to be too 'busy' to care but too nosy to stay out of the loop. He didn't care enough to pay attention to anyone's personal lives but he had to have all the gossip.

"What about you?" Sasuke sneered. He knew just what to say to get his brother back, "made any moves on you know who?"

His brother's cheeks tinged pink and he looked away immediately. The older refused to comment. Sasuke snickered. They were brothers after all, what did Itachi expect?

"Foolish little brother," Itachi mumbled, walking off and muttering something about taking a break. With a triumphant smirk on his features, Sasuke turned the opposite way his brother had gone and headed outside to stick his nose in whatever Jordan was up to. He made the short walk to the concrete hole in the ground just in time to watch his mentor dump the contents of a bucket into the chlorinated water, tinging it orange that faded to yellow as it dispersed.

"Well damn, not enough! It was supposed to be orange," Jordan frowned, taking a peek in to the bucket as if she thought more would appear but then looking up at him and smiling, "good idea right? Looks eerie? I'm gonna rig the dry ice up nearby so we'll have 'smoke on the water.'"

Sasuke hummed in response, agreeing it was a good idea.

"Did Karin tell you about the costume thing? I bet she didn't," Jordan kept grinning, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

"She didn't," Sasuke agreed again.

"Oh," she snickered, "well, we agreed on Alice In Wonderland. Karin is Alice, I, of course, am the red queen, Kakuzu is the hatter, and you're gonna be the white rabbit."

"Oh no," Sasuke rejected, "I'm not being a rabbit."

"Oh come on, Karin said you agreed!" Jordan sounded surprised, she raised her eyebrows and took a step closer to him, "it's not anything dumb, you don't even have to wear the ears!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took a step back, refusing to give in to her intimidation. Instead he sighed and folded his arms, knowing he'd end up in the costume no matter how stupid. He had agreed, that was true, in hope of it being some kind of 'fun.'

That was how he ended up in a black dress shirt, a red and grey striped vest on, decorated with a card suite tie. He wore black skinny jeans, uncomfortable black skinny jeans, and dress shoes, topped off with a set of white rabbit ears crowned on the top of his charcoal colored head. It wasn't that bad, he decided, looking in the mirror inside the hidden room upstairs. The DJ had shown up just as he'd gone to get dressed, and though he couldn't hear it, the party had gotten under way, people showing up from the far edges of the social circle, piling out of cars with alcohol and wandering down the street from who knows where.

Just as Sasuke straightened his tie, the wall creaked and Jordan let herself in, a red drab draped across her arm.

"Well don't you look nice!" She grinned, "you and Karin have got to get a picture together!"

Sasuke thought back to Karin's costume and grimaced. She'd said she was going to make her costume, but that never happened, instead she'd bought one, one of those too short, fluffy, crinoline skirts and long white stockings. She'd stuck a bright blue bow on the top of her head and called it good, heading off into the party, finding a drink within the first four steps off the staircase.

"Sure," Sasuke remarked, just to please his mentor. He watched her behind him in the mirror as she sat down on the California king and lay down, her legs still hanging over the side.

"I'll see you out there," he spoke softly, wondering if she'd invite him to sit down too, but she just waved and smiled at him as he left. As the wall opened the booming music found his ears and nearly split them.

The first thing he did after he got to the ground floor was take the rabbit ears off and stick them in his back pocket. As he detoured around the dance floor, he noticed a bunch of the rich kids here, that lazy kid that was next in line for the Nara medical corporation wore one of those stupid shirts with the tux printed on it, his buddy Chouji, the nice kid that played for lunch that day at the mall, stood off to the side and he regarded them as he passed though.

He hadn't realized the temperature inside was so high until he walked outside. The pool was still being used though, and looking further out over the yard, he found Karin and the rest of their friends, sitting under a string of lights in the side yard.

Naruto was dressed in a onesie, zipped up in the front and complete with feet. With the hood pulled up and the tail in view, it was clear he was a fox, but sitting down, he just looked sort of dorky, all except for the animal sitting on his lap. Held with tight hands on his lap sat Kyuubi, the fox, an orange harness donning his red fur. Suigetsu sat to his right, shorts and a red shirt on. As Sasuke neared, the words 'lifeguard' printed in big white letters appeared on his shirt. Sunglasses sat on top of his head and he held a drink in one hand. Juugo was back, looking quite nervous in the populated surroundings. Karin had stuck a pink tiara on his head when he'd shown up without a costume, and he didn't fight it.

"You're late!" Naruto shouted, grinning, "you're late!"

"For a very important date," Suigetsu snickered. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"So's your mom," Sasuke found himself muttering. He surprised himself after realizing what he'd said. Maybe they were rubbing off more than he'd originally thought.

"Fair enough," Suigetsu responded, downing the rest of his drink only to pour more from a bottle sitting nearby. He passed the bottle to Karin, who poured another cup and tried to hand it to him. Sasuke looked down at it, and then up at her with distaste, but took the cup anyway, only to sit it down on the table next to him with no intention of drinking it.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, a bit louder than he needed to, "have you seen sakura's costume?! Isn't it cute?"

Sasuke turned around to look poolside at a group of girls he had previously ignored. Sakura was there, sitting on the edge of the pool in her costume, with her friend Ino by her side and a few other girls standing behind them. Sasuke picked that Hinata girl out right away, but only because she was starring in his direction, past him, at Naruto. The group had chosen animals, Sakura in a cat costume, Ino as a pig, two other girls as a dog and a rabbit, but Hinata, either on purpose or by mistake, had also ended up as a cat in the exact same costume, though, the skirt on her dress was a little longer. Sasuke wondered if they'd roped the shy girl into making all of those costumes.

"Naruto, just out of curiosity, has Sakura ever spoken to you?" Sasuke asked, turning back around to look at the dumbfounded blond.

"No, she doesn't really like me," he responded sheepishly.

"Mm," he hummed in response, " I see. Have you had a look at Hinata's costume?"

"Hinata?" The blond mocked, and then Sasuke watched his eyes drift behind him to look at her, "oh. Yeah, she looks good too, I guess."

"You should go talk to her!" Karin interjected, grinning and sitting down her drink.

"I don't know," Naruto balked, but Karin was already up, handing Kyuubi to Suigetsu and yanking her cousin up from his seat. The redhead returned Naruto-less, grinning and with another drink from somewhere.

"There we go!" She was beginning to slur when she spoke, but she wasn't getting drunk just yet.

"What brought that on Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked, shoving the fox off his lap to tie the leash to his chair, but Juugo scooped the vulpine up before his friend could tie the knot. Juugo loved animals, Suigetsu though, not so much.

"Well he is my 'best friend,'" Sasuke huffed. What? Was he not allowed to be nice to people?

"Alright, well, remind me never to ask you to be my wingman, you pick ugly chicks," Suigetsu joked, but no one laughed.

"You guys, I told them I'd be back over," Karin stated, picking the conversation back up, "come with me, those girls are way too, I don't even know, way too something."

"Yeah, way too stupid," Suigetsu snickered, getting a little tipsy himself. He stood up and they strode, almost staggering, back to the larger group.

"Are you going to be okay here?" Sasuke asked, turning to Juugo. The larger boy nodded, his fingers already tangled in the fox's fur, and both looked to be enjoying themselves. Sasuke followed his two wayward friends across the yard and found himself a spot standing near the edge of the yellow tinged pool. Another drink had somehow found its way in to his hand and he sipped minuscule amounts of it for the only reason that he was thirsty and there was no pop or water available.

He promised himself though, that he was not going to get drunk.

He took back what he said earlier, because Karin was drunk. Under more lighting, he realized her face was flushed and her eyes were sort of, well, crazy looking, half lidded and bloodshot. Suigetsu was on his way there and Naruto, the sober-ist of all, had somehow talked himself and Hinata into a drink so now it was just him, the lone clear headed boy in a sea of drunks. Wonderful.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see a part of his group, Kiba in particular, flexing his arms and talking loudly about 'the gun show' to two unimpressed girls he didn't know. The white dog that followed him everywhere was near chewing on his leg, and though it was distracting and attention grabbing, Sasuke deemed that the situation probably wasn't all that interesting anyway. He decided to turn his attention elsewhere.

Inside the party house, he spotted Nagato and the lawyer woman just arriving dressed as a flapper and a 1920s gangster, reminding Sasuke that this was not a party for teenagers, and it was Karin's large group of friends invited to an adult party. Absentmindedly he hoped these kids were going to be okay when he made himself scarce in the next few minutes, especially Karin. Konan, the lawyer, smiled at him before she disappeared into a seat of people and he wondered if she was still fighting those charges from before. Probably not, Jordan wouldn't hire someone who wasted time.

"Watch this!" A voice hollered over the crowd.

Sasuke got out of the way just in time to dodge a highly intoxicated Kiba, along with his dog, running to cannonball in to the pool. With the chill in the air, Sasuke wasn't sure how anyone could be swimming, heated pool or not, but it didn't deter Naruto and two other boys he did not know the names of from jumping in too, all three whooping as they shed their shirts in a poor attempt to show off.

The ebony haired boy quickly took a few steps back to avoid the oncoming tidal wave of water, but someone caught his arm before he could retreat into the house.

"Where are you going?" Suigetsu slurred, his tone sly and hinting mischief.

"Get your hand off me," Sasuke hissed back, trying to yank his appendage away, but the white haired boy's grip only tightened.

"I will beat the shit out of you," he threatened, but the other teenager only flashed him a toothy grin, the heat of the alcohol twinning his cheeks. Suddenly a pair of hands were around his ankles and Sasuke realized what was happening. Naruto was pulling him as Suigetsu started to push, and on the wet concrete of the pool deck, it was hard to fight it. The ebony haired boy aimed a kick for his blonde friends head, only to have it fail and leave him with only one leg to brace against Suigetsu. With one last push, his pale skin meet the water's surface, and then the bath water warmth of its depth.

When he surfaced, the ridiculous bunny ears were floating next to him, and Suigetsu was towering over him with a shit eating grin on his face. Naruto was nowhere to be found, and that was probably wise of him.

"You fucking dick!" He shouted over the music, hauling himself up on to the side of the pool only to be pulled back in. Naruto was underwater, under him, and this was apparently so fucking funny, when Sasuke resurfaced again, Suigetsu was in the water too, sharing a near cackling laugh with the blonde.

It wasn't funny.

People were staring.

People were staring at him.

"Fuck you," Sasuke spat, "fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!"

Sasuke beached himself like a whale, embarrassed and positively livid. The air bit at him, trying to hang on to this last night of October before it blurred to the first morning of November. He shook, his skin goose bumping, and a chill ran down his spine. Karin was on him in a second, her face just as red as a tomato.

"Are you alright?" She slurred, nearly tripping herself and him as he stood up.

"Fine," he snapped, shaking her touch off of his arm. He was dripping, his hair clung to his neck and the skinny jeans he'd been talked into wearing held the cold close to his skin. He wasn't sure if he was shaking from anger or cold anymore. The Iciness of the atmosphere radiated from him instead of the weather.

Exasperated, Sasuke scoffed, how dare they?

Inside the house was warmer, but not much. Many of the people at this party didn't know him, or knew him but hasn't meet him, so he saved himself some embarrassment there as he drug himself though the house. Getting bummed on the dance floor was inevitable, and many confused party goers turned to look at him. Noticing he was wet, wet and angry, they recoiled and backed away from him. Sasuke burned a hole through the floor, and then up the stairs to find his dry cloths.

His first instinct was to try to get back into the hidden room. The clothes he'd wore here were in there, but as many times as he flipped the switch and pressed the knob into the wall, it refused to open. He put his hand on the wall and tried to shove it aside, but not even the seem appeared to hint it might open.

Sasuke groaned, the water pooling off of him and on to the hardwood floor.

He decided that he needed to find a towel. Never mind his cloths, if he couldn't have them, he couldn't have them, and he wasn't about to ask any drunk bastard he knew from the company roaming around this house for help. The bathroom was his next best bet.

It was just up the hall, and next to an upstairs sitting room. He could hear Jordan, inside the room, laughing along with a few other voices he didn't care to decipher. The bathroom door was cracked open, and it was dark inside, so Sasuke assumed it was unoccupied. He pushed it open and realized he couldn't have been more wrong.

It took him a moment for it to sink in. The room was filled with an ugly wet slurping sound and shrouded in shadows was a man, on his knees, in front of another man. The realization hit him seconds later that one of the men was his next of kin, the other his step cousin.

"Oh sick," he found himself saying, the words spilling unfiltered from his mouth. He revolved face and tried to leave the room as quickly as he could. He was going to find the jaguar keys and go home.

"Sasuke! Wait!" His brothers hand was on his shoulder, spinning him around seconds later and steps from the door. "Please don't tell anyone," were the first words out of his mouth. As if this was some sort of secret? The people Itachi desired the approval of most, his family, already knew all about this. All of their aunts, uncles, their parents, already knew and yet he was asking him not to tell?

"Why shouldn't I? Why shouldn't I tell? After you told dad where I was? Gave him my phone number?" Itachi's face changed from worry to shock and for a second Sasuke didn't know who'd spoken before he realized it had been his voice.

"I, well I, " his brother stammered, his mouth hung open in, maybe confusion, maybe regret.

"Yikes," come Jordan's voice again, this time the hint of anything funny gone out of her voice. Both brothers looked over.

She was standing in a red dress, one that came down to her knees, decorated tastefully with card suits on the skirt. The top was plain, but done with princess seams and fancy stitching around the top. The straps on it were thick, but her boobs still hung out. She had a round, shiny, gold colored crown on her head, fitting around a tightly twisted bun. It contrasted her lips, which were painted bright red, but her regular make up remained the same besides that.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" She asked, taking a sip of a fizzing clear drink. Pop? Where had she found pop when he couldn't? Sasuke's step cousin, Shisui, stepped out of the bathroom after zipping his pants up. He tugged on Itachi's shirt and he got the idea, following his step cousin down the stairs.

"Why are you all wet?" Jordan asked, coming closer.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said, very matter of factly, biting his tongue to hide a venomous tone. He wished she hadn't come out of that room, he didn't want to be mean to her, but he was just so angry. She took a few more steps and grabbed a towel out of the bathroom, handing him the plush fabric with a smile.

"Come on, I'll open the door," she replied softly, he almost couldn't hear her over the music, walking around him down the hall. She made sure no one was watching her before she lent down to an electrical outlet and stuck a key inside. Much to his surprise she didn't get electrocuted. He couldn't hear the click in the wall as the mechanism unlocked, but when she stood up and pressed the light switch, it opened and they both snuck in.

Jordan directed his attention to corner of the room where a folding room divider sat, one of the decorated ones he saw sometimes in movies set forever and a day ago. She told him she'd respect his privacy so he could change. He didn't need any more encouragement. He was back in his comfortable, loose jeans and tshirt in no time.

"Want some?" Jordan asked, holding out her glass to offer him a sip. He took it, seating himself on the bed. He wrapped the towel around his shoulders and dried his short hair after handing her back her drink.

"I suppose there's no use asking if you're having fun," Jordan mused," I was wondering if I could make it any better?"

He let his eyes drift to her smiling, unassuming face. He had some idea of what she meant, and he wasn't sure about letting her go on with it.

"I'm gonna change out of my costume too," she told him, handing back the glass, and left for the divider. Taking his shoes off and laying down on the beds white sheets, Sasuke decided he wouldn't be going back to the party. He wasn't so mad anymore, how could he be here with the music so dull, the lights so soft, and this bed so positively, divinely comfortable? The way he sunk into the plush mattress was all too enticing, he'd had a long day after all. He waited for Jordan to emerge, his manners refusing to allow him to yell across the room to tell her his decision, so he held his tongue. It took him until she'd slung her dress over the divider, next to his wet cloths, to realize that she hadn't taken extra cloths with her. They were sitting, folded neatly next to him on the night stand.

He had two choices, leave now while he still could, or have sex with her.

He'd decided three weeks ago he'd give up his virginity if it meant he was able to gain control. Pulling the cloth over his now mostly dry hair and tossing it to the ground, he decided now was as good a time as ever.

This wasn't something morally he wanted to do. He wanted to wait honestly, he wanted to find the right girl, one he thought he might marry if it ever came to that point in his life. The devil on his shoulder though, persuaded him already to give it up. Idealistically he wanted this, in the most corrupt, vile, unprincipled, unethical way, he wanted this. He'd do this, and he wouldn't look back.

When his mentor stepped out, she was naked, just like he thought she'd be.

Jordan wasn't Sasuke's picture of womanhood. She didn't have the conventional hourglass shape that he was taught women had, in fact, she didn't really have a shape at all. Her sides were stick straight and her hips weren't curved, and she was skinny too, not like flat stomach skinny, like her ribs showed on her sides skinny. He wasn't sure what he expected behind that thin face.

In her chest area, she yet again defied construct. She had small boobs, to be completely blunt. The pearl crowning them didn't stick straight out, hard and perky, instead they pointed down and out, like nature had engineered her body to its needs. Her breasts, both of them, remained unsexualized. After seeing her on the operating table, there was no way in all hell he could ever see them as an object, but the longer he thought about it, he wasn't sure if he was ever supposed to think about them that way.

His eyes traveled down, past the scared, lingering impression of a hole in her abdomen and to a larger, pink scar he hadn't previously seen traveling down her body. A C-section scar caught his eye, he recognized it right away because his mother had one too. He kept going, looking down, past the scar. He wasn't sure about how he felt when he realized she'd shaved herself down there. It wasn't for him, he decided, after a second look. Jordan did this for herself to make herself feel however it was she wanted to feel. She had stubble. If it'd been for him then she would have shaved again. She probably wouldn't mind if he hadn't then, at least he hoped.

She sauntered over to him, swaying her hips in an exaggerated fashion, each of her steps calculated, her demeanor so calm and sure. Her eyes smoldered as she placed one knee on the bed, and then the other. She closed the distance between them, crawling on her hands and knees until she vaulted one of her appendages around to straddle him. She seated herself on his hips, legs folded next to his sides and hands on his chest. He could feel her warmth through his cloths, causing his own arousal to stir deep in his belly.

Jordan worked magic on his skin. Her fingers bent at the second knuckle, moving in sync with her palms. She worked her hands in a methodical motion, working lower and lower until she worked them under his shirt and then back up, pushing and bunching up the fabric until he got the idea and finally pulled it over his own head. His pants were next to go, he was a bright boy after all and he caught the drift pretty quick. She lifted her hips conveniently as he shimmied them off and then used his feet to kick off the dark denim. His briefs had gone with them, meaning he was now completely naked and still only standing half mast.

"Oh god, baby," the woman above him whispered. He blushed crimson, heat spreading across his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He was aware that he was larger than average, he'd figured that out in freshman gym class, and he found himself wondering if he was to her liking.

"Oh," she hushed, "your cut too, how'd I get so lucky?" He blushed scarlet, reddening his chest a little too.

The pressure on his hips suddenly began to increase as she ground herself in to him. One quick adjustment and for the first time he felt the soft, welcoming, warm, wetness of her. She rolled her hips, sliding down him again and again, her body lubricating the space between them. The friction the motion caused was enough to have him standing at full attention, drops of cloudy precum appearing on his tip. Her lower lips parted around him, her core dripping in anticipation, gyrating in a slow, steady motion against him.

It was agonizing.

He wasn't watching her hand as it drifted towards his, and he wasn't really paying attention when she closed his fingers into a fist save for his thumb. He hadn't even realized she was moving his arm until it was guided into his line of view. The pad of his finger meet 'something' on her anatomy and after watching her eyes roll back into her head, he mashed it a little harder, keeping constant pressure on it and driving her wild.

"I can't take this anymore," she breathed, finally. Her hips halted, he almost cringed.

Unceremoniously, she dismounted him and hauled off the bed, she wasn't gone long though, just long enough to grab a handful of items out of a drawer and return. When she seated herself back on his hips, she sat a little lower, more on his thighs, and tore open the package on a condom. He watched her roll it on, his head lolling to one side and tried to focus on the way it felt with his head swimming.

The next thing she brought along was a little intimidating at first, scary even, but he found himself relaxing when she resumed attention on his lower half. She blindfolded him, wrapping a skinny bolt of silk around his head. The worst part about it was willingly tilting his head so she could tie it. He wanted to be able to see, he wanted to watch her face contort in pure pleasure, but without his eyes, his sense of touch was blown into overdrive. He felt drunk, he felt high, he felt good. He'd do anything she asked.

They both moaned when she sank herself down on him. Slipping her heat down, easing slowly, he could feel every stretch, every muscle contraction, the warmth, the velvet softness. It got even better with every inch she took, but she couldn't take all him just yet, leaving an inch that couldn't fit. He threw his head back, letting loose a throaty, low pitched resonance and rose his hands to grip her hips to hold her still. She couldn't move just yet, he wouldn't be able to handle it. Jordan panted, her hands going back to his body, rubbing, feeling, running, slowly over his hands, his arms, his hips, anywhere within her reach until they came to rest on either side of his head, he felt the pillow move, and he felt her breathe on his neck.

When he was confident that the nerves standing on end all over his body were calm enough to proceed, he tightened his grip on her hips and rolled his up, mocking the motion she'd done earlier. He heard her gasp and then she moaned again, voice full of dirty, filthy lust. "Oh god, you feel so good inside me. Fuck me! Fuck me until I cum!"

She rose as he pulled back, and fell as he pushed up, when they meet in the middle it felt like earthquake, in slow motion, the aftershocks wracking his spine and tremors making their way down to his fingertips.

Her lips meet his collar bone, and then her teeth married his skin. She bit him, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to grab his attention to that spot. She kissed him, sucking harshly on his skin, breaking delicate blood vessels near the surface. Her lips would meet so many more spots on his neck where reminders of this night would appear, if only for a few days.

He was building, fast, he realized as she mashed down into him, pushing in that final inch and forcing a moan from her lips. His hands still rested on her hips, his grip tightening until redness bloomed like a rose from her skin, it would probably bruise later. He jerked her down with more and more force each time, gritting his teeth and lost in feeling. If she wanted it hard, he wanted it harder.

"Just like that! Don't you dare stop!" She commanded, as if she was still in control. He didn't change his method, just pushed up, harder just liked she'd asked."Oh god," she moaned, letting loose a strangled "ah!" from her throat, "do you know how bad I wanted this? Do you know how bad I wanted you inside of me?"

He didn't think he could answer, not with words anyway. His jaw went slack and he moaned, able to feel her hands on his chest once again. The skin between them meet with every thrust, besides being able to feel his hide rubbing raw, he could hear it. This was no gentle union, it was frantic and almost violent fucking. Neither of them could push any harder, but it didn't stop them from trying, and the pace picked up to a fever pitch.

The bed shook, the head board hit the wall, creating a rhythmic banging that would have had the entire party downstairs looking up if it weren't for the music. This was such a public party, but here they were, privately lost in passion.

The woman above him threw back her head, letting her shoulders lean back and angling her body. He didn't know a movement so small could make such a big difference, because now something on the inside was pressing right on one of his sweet spots. After another thrust, it was his turn to throw his head back. Sasuke was barely aware of the sounds he was making because the woman above him was almost screaming.

Her lips meet his for the first time when she finally fell over the edge, all her muscles growing tense, her velvet soft core tightening around him. Her hips halted and then spasmed, her entire body shuddering along with her. Right after, her lips weren't quite on his. She hovered over him, panting and sighing. He was still for just a moment too, letting her pause to enjoy her moment until he couldn't stand it any longer. His hips heaved slowly against hers one, two, three more times before he lost himself too.

She kissed him again, briefly pulling his bottom lip between her teeth when she pulled away to leave a trail of kisses down his chin, over his throat, and ending on his collar bone. He felt her hands on the pillow, and then the blindfold fell away.

Jordan sat up, smiling a genuinely nice smile, and gently moved off of him, panting

while she disposed of the condom for him. He was breathing just as hard, the cold night air and nip from the pool water seemingly forgotten now that beads of sweat rolled down his temples.

He didn't speak.

She didn't say anything. At least, not right away.

After tossing the condom, she returned to the bed and lay down next to him, her chest still heaving too and her skin slicked with the same sheen of sweat. she climbed back in to bed next to him and settled down on her left side, facing him.

"Were you in the room when Hidan cut my shirt?" She murmured. He'd never heard her speak so softly.

"I never left," he replied, "I was there the whole time."

"Mmm," she hummed instead of responding. She paused for a long while before she asked her follow up question. "I don't remember that night. I was in and out. I can't remember the look on your face. Were you afraid?"

"Yes," he couldn't lie to her right after they'd had sex. She reached out to tuck a strand of his dark hair behind his ear, cupping his face after, but before allowing her fingers to run the length of his jaw. He didn't tell her that he had been holding her morphine or that he had snapped Hidan out of it when he froze. She had to have known it was him that drove her to safety. That it was him who saved her life.

"I'm going to tell you something then," she sighed, her hand repositioning itself to rest on his hip, "your family is trying to get ahold of you. I'm sorry you didn't hear it from me."

"I did hear it from you." If she was going to apologize for dancing around lying, he could dance around apologizing for eavesdropping.

She seemed to consider what he was saying, but she didn't speak in that direction again.

"Are you hungry Sasuke? Do you wanna go out to eat with me? The party started around the time we usually eat," she remarked. He felt her stretch her legs out under the covers and then she sat up, turning her attention to her sore thighs.

"I could eat," he responded, though he wasn't really that hungry. He watched her rubbing, massaging the muscles she'd just used to make him feel so good. A dull ache of his own was beginning to surface. When he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed the ache wasn't so dull anymore, his thighs were screaming and a few parts of his anatomy were sore enough to blue ball him for a week.

The keys to the jaguar hit the bed next to him and he looked back. His mentor smiled and pulled her shirt on over her bra, flashing her teeth in a girlish sort of way. She'd gotten what she'd wanted and it certainly felt good to get what he wanted too.


	11. Chapter 11: Fake it Until You Make It

This chapter is 10k words of family drama goodness, enjoy!

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The jaguar glided over near empty pavement, the remaining hours of Halloween gone, replaced by the cold chill of November. Sasuke was behind the wheel, guiding the sports car downtown. Most of the festivities had died down, the remaining cars on the street consisted of drunken stragglers from parties across town and parents on a late night ginger ale run after allowing their children to eat too much candy.

Jordan rode shotgun and directed him where to turn. They passed the occasional cop, but Sasuke knew he had nothing to worry about. He was the least evil thing to worry about roaming the city this late at night.

Jordan sat back in her seat, seemingly sated and gratified. She directed him with slow, calm, heavy words. They were headed to a restaurant he'd never been to, and when he pulled into the parking lot, he could see why. It was a bar, more or less, the sign was minuscule and not easily noticed, but the lights were on and live music boasted from open kitchen windows as well as the sounds of a bustling, busy eatery.

"I used to come here a lot in college," Jordan started, fishing around in the glove box for a pair of sunglasses. When she found them, she got out, and he followed her lead. The sign over the door labeled the place 'Lenore's,' and it consisted of three levels. The bottom level was empty, probably some sort of take out waiting room, and the bathrooms were here too. Sasuke followed his mentor up the darkened stairs lit mostly by the lights on the top level and cheap glow in the dark stars stuck to the walls.

The main room was lit by two very large, green chandeliers and normal lights mounted on the walls over each table. They had been turned down to give the room a cozy, intimate feel, but there was no shortage of light to see by. The band was situated across from the bar, playing an indie song that Karin would have probably liked, a low, lazy, but upbeat resonance. There were probably about twelve tables on this level, and most were filled, as was the bar. Posters, paintings and photographs lined every open space. Ravens, black cats, newspaper clippings and movie posters from the nineteen nineties contrasted well with the antique bar and table chairs, which were refinished but kept their old looking charm. One wood grained wall was devoted entirely to showcasing budding photographers and painters. The room smelled like beer, cinnamon and espresso. It smelled good, and it was warm too.

Jordan lead him up another flight of stairs, he was so distracted he almost didn't see her leaving. The third level was more just a outlook over the first, six tables situated themselves up here, and all were empty. The pair seated themselves close to the railing, old wrought iron and ornate, so they could still watch the band. The table was decorated with a glass mosaic rose, covered in acrylic to soothe out the surface. He wondered how long this table had been here, at least though her college years.

A waitress was on them in seconds, bringing their menus and later their drinks.

"I used to come here all the time, isn't it cool?" Jordan grinned, taking a sip of her soda. Sasuke didn't respond, but yes it was cool.

"Have you decided?" The waitress buzzed, smiling and picking up the menus. Sasuke knew what he wanted after his first glance at the list of food, and Jordan didn't even bother to pick hers up.

"A steak please, medium," Jordan responded, curt but kind. The waitress nodded and turned to Sasuke.

"Roasted vegetable pasta please."

She was gone after jotting something down, leaving the pair alone again.

"Yeah, I used to leave Kakuzu at home and come party here all night long, well, this place closes at two, but you got the idea. They didn't used to serve food after eleven, I'm glad they changed," Jordan chattered, and then in her most smug tone, she asked; "but, anyway, how was it? Any questions?"

She meant his first time. Of course she was still on that, that was probably her crowning achievement. Sasuke let silence fall over them while his brain buffered. He didn't really have anything to compare it to, he couldn't really rate it. He did have a question though.

"Can I ask about the scar?"

"Oh, that," She grinned, swirling her drink around in her cup. She didn't sound particularly happy. She knew which scar he meant, and it wasn't from the bullet.

"Well," She drawled, "that scar is very private, the story behind it Is a secret. But seeing as you've literally seen every inch of my body and your going to eventually surpass me, I could probably enlighten you a little. I'm not going to tell you where I'm from or anything about my home life, but I will tell you how I got started. There is only one other person that knows this story, I'm sure you can guess who that is. If I find out you spoke a word of this to anyone, it won't end well for you."

She paused, resting her chin in her hand, waiting, asking herself if this was worth it, wondering if this was really such a good idea. It wasn't too late to back out. She'd threatened him, however empty the threat might have been, he wasn't worried. Sasuke nodded slowly, making stoic eye contact with her. He was ready to know if she was ready to tell.

"So, I'll paint you a picture," she began again, sitting up, "I was seventeen, I hadn't had my last growth spurt yet, and my hair was a little shorter too. I was walking down a street, a paved street, barefoot and pregnant with a suitcase in my hand."

"Whoa," he interjected, "pregnant? How'd that happen?" She hadn't started at the beginning of this story, and that annoyed him.

"How does anyone get pregnant?" She sneered, taking a sip of her pop, "but I know that's not really what you're asking. I won't answer that. Sorry."

Sasuke didn't say anything. He watched her press her lips into a thin line as if she was unsure if she should continue, but then she grinned again, in sort of a sinister way and then she continued.

"Anyway, so, I'm walking down the street, I was probably about six months along, and I'm leaving home. I get about two miles down the road and a mustang pulls up, and out of it climbs my knight in shinning armor. He was twenty five and a friend and employee of my father's, and with the first words out of my mouth I told him to fuck off. Eventually I got in to his car, he told me my dad fired him, and then he told me that he was in love with me. He was gonna help me raise that baby like she was his own, but she died a week after she was born, do to no fault of anyone else but nature. We got married anyways. I'm sure you know the rest."

It was silent for a while, Jordan sipped her drink and the food came. Sasuke's pasta dish dripped in a scarlet red tomato sauce, spiced perfectly and accompanied by chopped vegetables in the dish. It had him drooling, but before he could dig in, he had to have the answers to a question that now begged.

"That stuff about your father dying and you inheriting his fortune, was that true?"

"It was, yes. Though, I suspect that money was left to me just to spite his fourth ex-wife, he hated me, but on the other hand, I was his only child," Jordan huffed, picking through her own food. The sirloin in front of her looked positively delicious too.

"What inspired you to create KMA then? You don't act like your life events scared you, besides in the literal sense," He continued. She was already ungodly rich, why would she need or want to start a company and work?

"Remember when we first meet, and I told you that admiration was the same as lust? It's that idea. These events all happened within a year of each other, all except my divorce, and that was all the time I needed to decide what I liked and by extension what I wanted. I wanted the largest company in the country, in the world and I'm almost there. "

"You did this all to show up your father? To make a more money than him, because he hated you?" Sasuke tried to read between the lines, because that was certainly the way she was making it sound. She laughed.

"No. No not at all. I did this because I found it enjoyable. Big business is fun, and breaking the law is even more fun. I do this because I love my job," she had a chunk of her steak on the end of her fork and the sinister look on her features now made her look positively wicked.

Sasuke decided that she'd told him more than she'd wanted to. Her story sort of reminded him of the way they'd meet. Had she really gotten the idea to pick him up off the street from Kakuzu all those years ago? He realized, if the baby hadn't of died, neither he or Karin would be in the picture.

He watched her move the meat to her mouth and chew and then move to cut up the rest of her steak in between bites of his own food, stabbing up halved cherry tomatoes with each mouthful of pasta. He chased a few sprigs of asparagus off to the side and rounded up a cut of zucchini to grab in the next mouthful.

He thought back to the last time his family had gone out to dinner. He didn't want to, but it was worming its way into his head even though he tried to ignore it. It hadn't been for any reason in particular, but it was the first of the month and there was money for once. Sasuke, his mother, and his father had gone out, Itachi was absent at college, and the fighting had been held off until they got home. It was pleasant. It was happy. His father wasn't drunk or hungover, that's what made it most pleasant. His father's happiness was the house's happiness.

It wasn't, however, better than any dinner he'd shared with Karin and Jordan.

He remembered exactly what he ordered, it was the same thing they all ordered, a patty melt and fries. He remembered the way his mother smiled, the way she joked with his father about having food on his face and the way he hurriedly wiped it off. He remembered the fullness to their eyes, the yellowed-white of their teeth as they smiled. He remembered the drunken rage they'd both flown in to later that night.

At the time he'd been indifferent to the fight, it was normal, a month ago he was indifferent, but now, thinking back, he was angry, he was angry they drank, he was angry they fought, he was angry they ruined the first decent night he'd had in a long time.

He should have been angry all along he realized, he should have been angry they drove his brother away, they drove him away, out of his own home. He should have been feeling all along.

"You look sort of disturbed," Jordan's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he realized he'd been staring at his plate for the last five minutes, unmoving, "my turn to pry," she purred, her grin reminiscent of the slyest fox, "so, tell me."

"Tell you what?" He asked, taking a drink of his cola to water his dry mouth.

"Whatever you want," she replied.

"I was thinking about my family, just now, if that's what you meant," he answered, when she gave no indication of replying, he carefully continued, "I had a very significant relationship with my family, especially Itachi before he left for school. We used to go everywhere together. I love my mother very dearly. She's soft spoken, especially when it's more than just her and I."

"What about your father?"

Why was he spilling his guts to her? He didn't need to get this off his chest! It wasn't any of her business and it was all in the past anyway. He shouldn't be thinking about it, he shouldn't care. But he did. He did care and he was hurt. Whatever had broke inside of him, whatever made him realize that he was a human, a living, breathing, feeling, human, needed to go away. He didn't want to be angry, he didn't want to be sad, or upset, he didn't want these things to bother him. He didn't care to open up to her or anyone else. But he would, because he wanted her to know. He wanted her to coddle him and tell him he was doing well. He wanted her to continue praising him, telling other people how good he was because neither of his parents ever bothered to. He wanted her to know more than any other person. So he continued, very slowly.

"My father isn't an easy one to impress."

She rose her eyebrows, the expression in her face just as calm and unreadable as the one on his, "What does that mean?"

He didn't have a response for her. He didn't even know what to say so he let silence linger before he answered, "Significant relationships come and go. It's a part of life."

"Not if both parties involved are trying," she sipped her drink, "are you telling me your doing this because of your father? Like you just suggested I was?"

"I don't know," he answered finally, "at first it was about money but..."

"I see," she said, considering his answer, "Well, let me tell you something. Don't let relationships you want to keep around dwindle. But," she accentuated, "but, known when enough is enough. Sometimes things you want to stay don't want you."

"Like Kakuzu?" He blurted the first thing that came to his lips.

"...Yes," she paused," What's that old bastard saying to you?"

"Nothing," he muttered, regretting what he'd said immediately.

"Spill it. I know he blabs to everyone who'll listen about how I don't want him around, and this, that, and the other thing, come on, spill it," she seemed very angry all of a sudden, he wasn't surprised.

He didn't want the tan skinned man to know he was with Jordan, he didn't want him to know anything about them and tonight, and he most certainly didn't want her confronting him, "Nothing, really. I haven't spoke to him much since the night of your... Accident"

"What did he say then? Just out of curiosity." She visibly relaxed into her chair and nursed her drink further. The waitress cut in and dropped off a refill and the check, letting the situation calm further.

"I can't remember," he relied, stirring his pasta sauce once the waitress was gone, "I can't remember much from that night either. I remember he said something about me being the man of the house but, other than that..."

"Ha!" Jordan scoffed, "man of the house! He's always been that way. Don't let him poison your brain. Man and woman share a house equally. Honestly, why does mr. Macho think I divorced him in the first place?" She shrugged her shoulders and sighed, sipping her drink from the glass and taking a cube of ice into her mouth.

When it was time to leave, Jordan left a hundred dollar bill on the table. She said anyone working on Halloween deserved it.

"I was wondering if maybe I should have gotten food for Karin, but she's probably too drunk to care right now," his mentor said matter-of-factly as she strode across the parking lot.

"Are we going home?" He asked, climbing into the driver's seat of the car. Jordan agreed, going home was best while doing up her seat belt. So they headed home.

They didn't go to work the next day, the entire top office was too hungover to function. Karin didn't return until that evening, her hair up in a knot and her makeup smeared. She locked herself in her bedroom and didn't come out until Thursday morning when everyone returned to work. Friday went by and then Saturday and Sunday were spent at the movies and the video game store with Naruto, and the next week flew by without a hitch.

November eighteenth was a Thursday, and began rather unexciting. He ate breakfast with Jordan and then drove them to work, parked the car, and then rode the elevator upstairs. Friday was tomorrow and the office was ready for the weekend. Things were moving fast today, Sasuke hardly had time to drink his coffee while it was still warm.

Jordan was downstairs working on the taxes with Kakashi, Kakuzu was locked, seething, in his lair of an office as always, and he had no idea where Nagato was, though, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The secretary outside the white French doors brought in stacks of paper every so often and took a stack he'd already gone though. This is what he wanted to be doing all along. This was calming, relaxing almost. Sasuke liked busy work.

The paper in front of him was discussing packaging and marketing plans of the shower curtains that didn't really exist. It needed checked and edited for corporate satisfaction and it was not up to his satisfaction. In fact, he was going to demand to see the head of marketing here as soon as he got done and the CEO trainee planned to have a little discussion with him about the illegal activity. He rejected every paper related placed in front of him, it made him angry that they'd even try to pass it though. Jordan probably wouldn't mind, probably.

The intercom on his desk buzzed, pulling him away from his thoughts, the secretary's voice came over it seconds later. She was the new hire, the next one to get the job after Jordan fired the last.

"Mr. Takashiro?" She addressed and it took him a second to remember that He had introduced himself as Jordan's nephew.

"Yes?" He responded, pressing the button to talk. Why hadn't she just come in like every other time before?

The line was quiet a moment before she cleared her throat and spoke, "The second floor conference staff is on the phone. There's a man down there saying that he's your brother and that he needs to speak with you."

"What does he want?" Sasuke asked, suspicious.

It was quiet for a long time and he thought maybe the receiver had broken until her voice came back, clear as a bell, "He says it's an emergency."

"Tell them I'll be down in a minute. Tell them to get him a coffee and seat him in a room while they're at it," Sasuke rushed through his speech and then across the room. He passed the secretary on the phone on his way to the elevator and punched the button to the second floor as fast as he could. The elevator was fast, luckily, and it gave him butterflies as he shot down.

Itachi had been seated in the smallest conference room, with coffee and donuts and a box of tissues. Sasuke could see right away his brother had been crying. This was grave. He closed the door and stood near it, unsure if he should approach the older Uchiha.

He held his brother's gaze for a moment before looking down and fixing his tie, "what happened?"

When Sasuke looked up, Itachi was the one looking down. His expression was mournful and tears dammed in his eyes. He didn't look like he wanted to speak, he didn't want to tell, because if he told, then it'd be real. When he finally did speak his tone cracked, "Dad died."

"Of what?" The younger asked, his eyebrows raising, his knees locked for just a moment to prevent himself from falling. He had to sit down.

"Heart attack," the older replied.

Suddenly it hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks.

"Oh god," he drew in a ragged breath and exhaled, trying to draw fresh, calm air into his lungs. He put his face in his hands and rubbed, his fingers could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, "oh god."

"I found him this morning on the kitchen floor. Mom was asleep upstairs. She didn't see anything, don't worry," his brothers breathe came in a halted sort of labored, "mom said that the night before last his chest had hurt, and it hurt worse after he got home from work yesterday, and,"

"Itachi stop!" The younger commanded, he didn't want to hear anymore, "This can't be happening," he denied and then went on to accuse, "Why wasn't mom doing anything? How could she just be sleeping?" He huffed and pushed his bangs out of his face, brushing his fingers through his hair, "isn't there anything we can do? Is he at the hospital?"

"He was pronounced dead when the paramedics came this morning."

He wasn't at the hospital, he was at the funeral home.

"Oh my god," he muttered, his shoulders slumping, his body going lax.

"Sasuke," Itachi tried to reason, but his jaw went slack and no other words followed his name.

"Why didn't mom take him to the hospital? Why? Why didn't he call 911?" The younger demanded, almost shouting. His eyes were burning, tears threatened to leak, so he allowed his fists to ball up to rub the irritation away. Itachi didn't have an answer for him. He was starting to feel nauseous as the initial surprise faded to shock and dread. Itachi paled more than usual. He wanted to cry too, but instead he took a drink of the black coffee in the styrofoam cup next to him. It must be as bitter as he felt.

"What are we gonna do?" It was Sasuke's turn for his voice to crack.

"Um," his brother said, unsure. Sasuke had never been around his brother when he didn't know just what to say. "Mom wanted me to wait until you got out of work to tell you, but then the funeral home called and they need a deposit. Mom and I don't have the money."

"Oh," the younger huffed, more out of apathy than distaste his brother had only come here to ask for money. He drew his black leather wallet out of his back pocket and opened it. "How much do you need?"

"Fifteen hundred." The elder brother replied.

"I've only got six hundred on me," he muttered, taking the cash out of his billfold, "there's an atm downstairs, I'll get the rest."

"Just bring it with you, mom wants to see you tonight." Itachi wanted his mother to have some pride left after this was all over, he'd make the money seem like a gift.

Sasuke wasn't even going to fight it. He'd go to his mother's house tonight, stay for dinner if she made it, and then leave. He didn't want to be around either of them right now, but he would. He'd take the money to them, tell his mother to bury his father any way that made her happy, and then see her at the funeral.

He nodded, giving his brother the affirmative. "Tonight at Six?"

"Yeah."

"I um," he said, standing and putting his hands awkwardly down at his sides, "I have to go back to work. You can stay here a while if you like."

Itachi didn't reply, and when he didn't Sasuke choose to linger a few minutes longer than he wanted to. When it became clear his brother had no more words, he decided to just leave. He didn't actually have to go back to work. Yes, he was busy, but he was the boss. He could take as much time as he wanted with those papers. He caught the elevator back up after deciding that work was better than sitting around with his brother. When his secretary asked if everything was alright, he told her he was fine and shut the office door. He worked all day and he didn't think one bit about what was going to happen when he left the building, but he could feel the mounting stress it caused.

He felt it especially when he called the meeting. The merchandise head was a tall man, with a flat face, pointed nose and glasses. His clothes looked to be a size too big and the way he walked suggested that his shoes were a size too small. He looked comical, like a clown almost. Sasuke was not laughing.

"I didn't imagine you'd be so young," the man grinned, scoffing and trying to jokingly blow him off, "it's nice to finally meet you. The whole company has been talking about you since you took over for Miss Takashiro while she was away. I'm Ken Matsumori."

Sasuke had seen this man once before, at the staff meeting on his first day. He apparently hadn't remembered the kid sitting next to the CEO, or maybe he did and he was just being a prick. "This isn't a meet and greet, I hope you know. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

The smug smile the other man wore fell from his face.

"This is about the factory, the one we own. I'm going over these numbers and I can't help it think they look fake," Sasuke continued, stealing the smooth voice, relaxed expression, and intimidating but silently convincing body posture from the many times he'd watched Jordan work. He had to look cool, he had to look confident, he had to let go of any thoughts about his father if he wanted to come out of this on top.

"Yes, Miss Takashiro asked me-" the man started, but Sasuke cut him off, his tone still level and emotionless.

"I know what she told you. My problem is these numbers aren't even believable. Do you want to lose your job?"

"Well no, but," the older man stuttered, the look on his face contorting from confused to dumbfounded.

"But nothing. You see, I don't want to loose my job either, and the company is under a lot of suspicion. Is there a current lease on the facility?" The younger pressed, knowing full well from reading reports that the last tenant had vacated and the building was now empty.

"No." He replied harshly.

"I want you to take some money out of that little 'rainy day' fund you siphon money out of every third week of the month and give it to your manufacturing head to buy some actual machines. I want a test run on the factory. I want real numbers on a revenue sheet on my desk next month. Don't cut corners, don't fudge anything, do it quick and clean with a full staff and no trouble. Are we clear?"

"Crystal. It's just that I've been told differently from day one when I started here," he sounded threatened and frustrated, maybe even angry. Sasuke was sure somewhere down the line someone had told him not to do what Sasuke had just instructed and made it very clear not to listen to anyone suggesting it.

"To your knowledge, Mr. Matsumori, does anyone ever actually read these reports?" He asked, in his most persuasive tone. It wasn't hard to see what was going on downstairs under all the bureaucracy in the reports. This was all in plain sight, no reading between the lines needed. This man had even outlined his own money laundering in his paperwork. If the ethics committee was doing its job at all they'd be having a field day.

"I think you're the first," he replied. Sasuke nodded. It was time to bring out the ace up his sleeve, big scary mama Pitbull, Jordan.

"In the next five years this company is going to be completely mine," the junior CEO lied, but he lied well, "I'm doing my best to make the transition smooth. We're just going to try this, if it doesn't work out, then we'll go back to the way it was. My aunt is trusting me in this office to make the best decisions for the company. You wouldn't be putting up this sort of fuss for her, would you?"

"No," Ken swallowed, "No, sir."

Sasuke smiled, it wasn't a nice smile, and he could see the stranger's face contort into distaste, "you're dismissed."

The man left, his tail between his legs and Sasuke was alone for a few more hours. Victory was his. He wasn't gone five minutes though, before he remembered the events of this morning and he was back on edge. His face fell as hard as his morale, and being alone was both soothing and discomforting.

When Jordan arrived at four fifty four to tell him it was quitting time, he literally dropped what he was doing and left. The pen rolled off and fell to the floor as he stood up and walked away from the desk without bothering to push in the chair, he didn't even look back as be meet her in the doorway.

When he'd gotten home he immediately changed his clothes. He fished out an expensive sweater from the middle of his closet and put it on. It was brown with a beige stripe running horizontally across the chest and was made of a thick knit cashmere. It was warm and soft and he loved it though he'd never worn it before. He was unplugging his cell phone from the charger and getting ready to run a brush through his hair when someone rasped on the door. He went to the door and answered it, intending on leaving soon anyway.

He figured it would be Jordan standing there and he was right. She wore a sweater too, and held two cups of hot tea in either hand, grinning one of her all knowing shit eating grins. Usually he would have ignored it, but today it had him a little irritated.

"I don't have time for tea right now. Do you mind if I borrowed the car?" He asked, more than a little short with her. She'd say yes, he'd push past her and leave. She'd never say no to him.

"What's going on?" The smile fell from her face and her eyebrows rose in disbelief. She could be short too, in almost a 'how dare you' sort of way. Sasuke clenched his fists into tight balls and sighed. His lips pressed together and his chin quivered, his body threatening to tremble into tears. He tried to hold himself together. He tried not to think about it, but he was failing miserably and hardly standing. He wondered how he'd managed to hold himself together all day.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" Jordan asked, voice softening and her tone lowering.

"My dad, he," the boy choked, and then all of a sudden the floodgates opened again. He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth.

He heard Jordan's tongue click and then he felt her arms wrap around him, the hot mugs pressing into his back. He could feel their warmth over hers,"I'm sorry."

He didn't return her embrace but he let her touch him. Tears slid down his cheeks and off of his chin, dripping on to her shirt. His shoulders quaked and he hiccuped once, but he refused to allow himself to break down again.

"I know I made it seem like they were horrible, like they were good for nothing drunks, but I loved my dad. I can't believe that he's just gone, just like that," he shivered as he spoke, but he spoke, uninhibited. It took a lot to hold it back but he did. Suddenly, just today, his father wasn't the mean drunk, he wasn't the falling down mess, he was let's stay up late and watch scary movies, he was finding the perfect tree in the lot for Christmas, he was what your mom doesn't know won't hurt her, and Mr. Nice Guy when his boys were in trouble. Sasuke loved him, regardless of everything he'd done and failed to do. "I can't believe I never called him back, or even said goodbye. I haven't seen him in two months."

"You had no way of knowing," she pointed out. He nodded, his lower lip still quivering.

"I don't want to go alone," he confessed. In not so many words he was asking her to come with him. He isn't thinking straight, he shouldn't be driving. Jordan drew away from him and held him at arm's length. She brought one cup to her lips and took a long drink and he knew she was trying to think.

"Sasuke, how old is your mother?" She asked, offering him the mug she'd brought to him. This time he took it, sipped, and gave himself a second to think too.

"I think she's around," he paused, "Thirty nine, why?"

"Do you know how old I am?" She countered.

Early thirties he surmised, but he didn't reply. He saw where this was going. She was almost old enough to be his mother, and not only was she feeding, clothing, and employing him, but she'd slept with him. No one had to know about that last one, but it wasn't like people couldn't tell they were involved. These two women were born in the same decade, and one of them was doing a much better job at parenting him than the other.

"I don't think I should go," she smiled softly, rubbing his back gently with her now free hand, "the keys are on the hook. It's raining, so drive slow okay? Do you need anything else?"

"Yeah, uh, could I borrow some cash? I forgot to go to the ATM. My, uh, my mom can't pay for the funeral," he didn't feel bad asking. He knew she didn't give a shit about money except for making it.

"Oh, Sasuke, sweetheart that's so sweet of you to do that for your mom! But here," she said, walking off briskly her to the kitchen, where she'd left her purse on the island. She returned with a credit card and her checkbook, "I'll get it. Does twelve sound good? I'll sign it and you can fill it out, is that okay? You can just hand it right over to 'the home' to pay for the service."

"Thank you, I'll pay you back," he droned. If he felt any better it was maybe only a little.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's only money right?" She grinned as she ripped the check from the book, " I know you already have a card, but use this one instead."

He took them both and pocketed them. Before he slid it into his pocket, he got a look at what was printed on the red plastic card. It was his name on her account number, meaning she'd put the account in his name too. Karin's was probably on it as well and he wondered if she knew something he didn't.

It'd make him look good, whatever the reason was.

So he took the car keys and the box of tissues from the coffee table and got in the car. He switched off the CD Jordan was listening to, quieting the rapid fire of lyrics and switched on his favorite radio station. He didn't need the tissues once on the drive to his mother's, but when he got out, he stuffed a few in his pocket for good measure.

The house he once did lived in hadn't changed in the short time he'd been gone. It had once been a nice house in the suburbs, it still was nice, but lately with the condition of his parents the house wasn't kept up as it was when he was a kid. The siding was dirty and the lawn needed mowing, on top of that they needed a new driveway and a new front door. The jaguar's headlights illuminated the front of the house, the porch lights either hadn't been turned on or were burned out. He could see a few things Itachi had tried to do, the fence around the backyard had been painted and he'd fixed a loose board on the front porch. It no longer threatened to flip upwards when he stepped on it while on his way to the door.

He knocked on the door and then stood to wait, putting his hands in his pockets. He'd lived here his entire life but tonight the little blue house made him feel alienated. This was not a new place but it felt foreign. This wasn't his home anymore. Foot steps come to the door and his brother let him in, illuminating the cracked front walk just long enough for him to walk inside.

Inside the house was a little better. Itachi had been doing some major clean up by the looks of it. The wood floors had been waxed, the furniture had been polished and the majority of the beer bottles had been picked up. He wondered absentmindedly if the bottles that lingered had been left on purpose. Maybe they had been his father's.

The house smelled like pumpkin pie, his mother's famous pumpkin pie, and warm, spiced cider. His mother however was not in the kitchen, instead she was in her usual spot, in front of the tv with a drink in her hand. When the woman turned to see who it was her son had let in, her face lit up.

"Sasuke!" She exclaimed, standing up. She seemed so surprised, apparently Itachi hadn't told her he was coming. She bumped herself on the arm of the couch, laughing a little to herself and checking to see if she'd spilled her drink. Itachi left his side and his mother replaced him, wrapping her free arm around him and pulling him into a lazy sort of half hug."Sasuke you are just in time! Your brother is making dinner and wheel of fortune is on!"

He could smell her hair from her place under his chin, and she didn't smell clean. Her eyes were a little red and still puffy, either that was from her sinus problems caused by the hops in her beer or from crying, but Sasuke couldn't tell which.

"I can't believe you finally showed up, I just can't!" His mother elaborated, her mood quickly switching, "so nice of you to drop by after running away like that. Not that I'm not glad to see you."

Oh. Right. This had been why he'd left home in the first place.

"Sasuke!" His brother called, followed by a clang of pots and pans, "would you come here?"

Gladly, Sasuke left the entryway in the living room for the kitchen where his brother was trying to drain a pan of pasta.

"Would you get a strainer?" He asked, mitts on both his hands and both his hands curled around the pot handles. Sasuke fished the strainer out of the cabinet and put it in the sink for his brother. Itachi then poured the pot's contents into the strainer. Steam rose and fogged up the window over the sink.

"She hasn't set foot in here, you're safe," his brother murmured, barely audible. His brother was referencing his mother, and then Sasuke realized this is the same room his father had died in. He wasn't sure how he felt about that so he tried not to feel any way at all. He knew now why his mother wouldn't enter the room.

Sasuke watched his brother shake the pasta free of water and then pour it back into the pan. Itachi took it back over to the stove and turned the burner on low before he poured in two jars of tomato sauce to the noodles. He watched his brother stir a pan of heating green beans, probably from a can, and then he got a two liter of pop out of the fridge. Sasuke made himself useful and got two glasses and ice before returning to pour the soda. He took a sip and it was mostly flat, but that was okay.

After watching Itachi work, Sasuke realized he was reenacting a pattern, operating on auto pilot or muscle memory. He was probably the most torn up out of the entire family.

"What ever became of you and that woman on Halloween?" Itachi asked after a long while of stirring and spicing and adjusting burners. His tone was as low as his voice.

"What happened with you and Shisui?" Sasuke replied in the same way. They both had something to hide and their mother may or may not be eavesdropping.

"He went home. Said it ruined the moment."

Sasuke snickered, smirking. Wasn't it the younger brothers job to ruin the older's scores? He shrugged it off right after because his brother was sharing more than usual. This was what he called sibling bonding? Oh right. He was a nosey fucker.

"It involved a blindfold," Sasuke replied, referencing his own escapade that night. His voice hinted cockiness. The smirk lingered on his face as his brother turned to look at him with pure amusement and confusion and subsequently burnt himself.

He went reeling to the sink to run it under cold water and didn't make eye contact with him again that night.

Regardless of who was getting action and who wasn't, the night went on. Itachi made his mother up a paper plate of spaghetti and vegetables and Sasuke carried it along with his own into the living room. His mother was still watching wheel and asked Itachi to get her another drink right after he sat down. Of course Itachi got up and got it.

The person spinning on wheel was incredibly stupid. He'd guessed letters that were already up twice, and the only one with any brains kept hitting bankrupt. He'd forgotten how often they used to sit just like this every weeknight and watch this show. He'd forgotten the normal of this household. He let his eyes drift, however, and they settled on his father's empty armchair.

The front room was arranged with the front door on the far right, and directly in front of it was the steps leading upstairs. The old school TV was on the far wall to the back of the house, behind the wall the entertainment center was on was a computer room that was used mostly for shoving shit they didn't need, and the kitchen was to the left. The couch he and his mother were seated on was angled, from his spot he could see into the kitchen and the TV. Itachi was in an arm chair across from him, angled the opposite way, and between them was the mate to it. The old leather armchair had long been claimed by his father, who reserved the right to kick anyone out of it and steal the TV.

The chair, surrounded by empty beer bottles and fishing magazines, was empty now.

It would always be empty, from now on. Yeah, sure, other people would sit there, but they wouldn't own it like he did.

He blinked, hard, a few times and chased those thoughts out of his head. He decided right there he was all done crying.

"Sasuke," his mother began after a particularly long sip of her drink, "Itachi was telling me all about the office you work at, but he wouldn't tell me where. You'll let him come visit you but not me?"

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably, and avoided looking over, but he had to to talk to her, "Itachi wasn't allowed to visit me, my boss chewed me out."

"Oh, that woman? He keeps talking about some woman," she sneered. Her mood had gone foul, that much was clear.

"In fact, your father, bless him, tried to call you at her house. And do you know what she said?" His mother paused, eyebrows raised and her gaze disproving and sour, "she said you weren't there. Where do you live Sasuke?"

He looked to his brother for help but Itachi was looking down. He opened his mouth and stammered out a few "I, well I,"s but he couldn't think of a lie fast enough.

"How could you do this to me? I raise you, feed you, I gave you life Sasuke, and you won't even tell me where you are? How could you do this to your own mother?"

"Mom," Itachi started.

"Not now! Mommy is talking!" She snapped. Itachi didn't give any indication he was offended. He must be used to it. Sasuke was not, anymore.

"I can't tell you where I live, mom. I can't tell you where I work," he replied, trying to win her pleasant mood back over. He remembered describing this very woman to Jordan as soft spoken. He'd forgotten to add when she was sober.

"Sasuke how could you!?" She was near shouting.

"Mom I have to. I'm working with highly sensitive material." It wasn't a lie. The fraud that went on in that building was running rampant, and with her as a policeman's widow, he knew he couldn't say any more than that. " I promise I'll come visit more often."

That seemed to satisfy her for just a moment. She sipped her drink again as Wheel Of Fortune ended and the seven o'clock evening news came on. In just moments her mood did change again.

"You know," she muttered, "I'm gonna miss him. We were married for twenty one years."

He could hear his mother's voice tremble like his had that morning and he knew she was on the edge of tears. He'd offer her his hand, that would be the thing for a son to do for his mother, but he kept his hands to himself. She spoke like her two son weren't going to miss her husband at all.

"You know, I came downstairs and there he was. I couldn't believe it," she snuffled and turned her head away to wipe her eyes. When she turned back, She sighed and dropped her cleared plate on the coffee table, a sudden smile appearing on her face, not bittersweet at all.

"All I need is my boys," she said, and pulled her youngest son into a hug. He hadn't wanted it, in fact he looked very uncomfortable, but he didn't push her away.

"Mom," Sasuke muttered, patting her back in an attempt to get her to release him, "I think it's time I went home."

"You've only been here an hour! Come on, stay. Oh! I know! I haven't touched your room, stay the night!" She urged, dropping one arm in favor of her drink, the other still firmly around him.

"I borrowed the car I drove," he replied, clearing his throat. His mother's remaining arm dropped off of him like he was on fire. She lowered her head and her long black hair, the very same he'd inherited, obstructed her face. She'd pulled him close, pushed him away, pulled him close again and now she was going to push him away once more. That was okay.

"I'm going to see him out," Itachi spoke carefully.

"Good," his mother shot back. This time Sasuke winced. Both brothers stood up and went to the front door, slipped on their shoes and left. Suddenly it was like a heavy fog had been lifted off of Sasuke's shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Itachi apologized, leaning his back on the door and taking a single deep breathe. It wasn't his to apologize for.

"Are you gonna go back to the house across town?" Sasuke asked, brushing it off. The older shook his head.

"No. Probably not. After all this happened, I can't leave her. She needs me more than ever," Itachi explained. It translated to: " I can't let what happened to dad happen to her." Not that he let on, but Sasuke knew his brother probably blamed himself. If he'd of still been living here then he would have been able to get him to the hospital. But he wasn't, he was across town. His mother had probably been trying to guilt trip him too. Itachi was just the kind of person to fall for it.

"Good night," Sasuke droned, stepping off the porch.

"Night," his brother responded, and headed back into the house.

It wasn't until Sasuke got back into the car and sat down did he realize just how exhausted he was. His brain felt like it was about to short circuit and he felt a headache coming on. His shoulders slumped. He'd been carrying the tension and exhaustion for so long. His eyes drifted to half lids and he couldn't deny that today had taken more out of him than he liked to admit. The car wasn't scary anymore, it hadn't been since he'd gotten comfortable with driving and for a while he'd been indifferent, but now he just felt safe. He started the engine and shifted it in to drive and let the sports car take him back to his guarded home.

When he arrived home, Suigetsu's car was in the driveway and the white haired jerk was in his house. Naruto was there too, sitting on the floor and holding Fuji as she tried earnestly to get away from him.

He really wasn't up to this, he sighed, but he took his shoes off, picked them up, and tried to walk through the living room to his bedroom anyway. He was stopped, as he predicted.

"Sasuke! You bastard! Where have you been?" Naruto shouted and Sasuke watched his cat squirm under the volume.

"I went out. Calm down you moron," he countered, his insult was half hearted. He shoved his free hand into his pocket and looked down at him. Naruto picked up on it right away.

"You're late for the movie! Come on, you hard ass! Sit!"

"It just started," Karin emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn in one hand and two cups of pop in the other, pinched together and dangerously threatening to spill on Jordan's white furniture.

"He's not that late," Suigetsu commented, sipping his own drink out of a straw. Naruto rolled his eyes and resumed his attention to the cat. Karin sat down in the middle of the three man couch with Suigetsu on her left. She patted the empty space to her right and smiled at him. It took him a second to think about what was going on. He could leave now. He wasn't being forced to stay with them. An idea crossed his mind as he glanced over at the flat screen and then he decided he'd join in.

"Karin, do you have any of those white pills on you?"

She looked over at him with her eyebrows raised as he settled down but she didn't comment.

"Suigetsu, will you hand me that box over there?" She asked, turning away to point at a decorative, little junk box on the end table closest to Suigetsu, but the comment was largely ignored by the white haired boy.

"Suigetsu!" Karin shouted, but he continued to ignore her. She decided then to climb over him, using his face, and grab the box herself. After a brief shoving match she sat back down in possession of the box. From the box Karin produced a prescription bottle filled with the little white pills and she shook two out of it, one for him and one for herself.

"What are these?" He asked, already packing it into his mouth and stealing a sip of her drink. It took longer for her to reply because he passed the cup to her and she downed it, all while handing Suigetsu back the box. He'd taken a few from time to time and she ate them like candy, but he'd never actually got a name for them.

"Muscle relaxers? Mood stabilizers? I don't know," she replied, shrugging.

Okay. Well, that was just great. But whatever, he decided, shrugging.

"Where's Jordan?" He thought to asked, laying back to relax, honestly relax, for the first time since this morning.

"Dunno, she said she was going with Nagato. She said she'd be home late," Karin replied, shoving her face full of popcorn. Suigetsu grabbed a handful too and the longer Sasuke looked at it the more his mouth watered. So he grabbed some for himself, never minding the germs in the bowl. Jordan wasn't coming home until later? Okay. So he put his feet up on the table. He could feel his heartbeat slowing and he could feel himself sink into the sofa. His head loled backwards, his eyes drooped, and the stressed scowl he harbored faded from his face into a noncommittal, blank faced frown.

The movie was some such thing from the nineties about a park full of dinosaurs, that of course, all got loose, and of course, ate everyone. Because, of course (once again!), no one listened to the guy making sense. Once it went off and the over dramatic theme music played over the end credits, he almost groaned out loud to see that it's two sequels were playing next. As the theme song began again for the second movie, Sasuke reached back into the popcorn bowl only to find it empty.

He huffed. He'd like his own bowl of popcorn actually, and he'd get up to get it too, but the couch was so comfortable. Honestly, what were those pills for? Sedating bull elephants? He'd taken them before and he'd never felt like this."Popcorn's gone."

"Oh," Karin mumbled, pretty relaxed herself, "I'll go get some more."

She was up and gone in an ultra slow second, but she was back much faster. She'd ditched the popcorn bowl for a paper bag. When she plopped back down on the couch she dumped the bag out on the table in front of them and all of its brightly colored, individually packaged contents dropped out.

It was all the leftover Halloween candy from the party. Jawbreakers, suckers, life savers, gummi worms, everything sugary and salty, hard and gummy, and everything in between. He saw his favorite right away, a package of sour patch kids, and then snatched up a sucker, a couple strawberry hard candies, and a little bag of pretzels. He'd pretty much eat whatever as long as it was made of sugar and not chocolate.

He put his stash in his lap and started munching as soon as the dinosaur scientists got to the island. It wasn't long until the first person got eaten and it turned in to a shit show. Between the repetitive motion of shoving candy in his mouth and eyes glued to the screen, he lost a half hour before he even realized he had no idea what was going on.

There was a T-Rex chasing the people on the movie, and then there were some velociraptors, and people were getting killed left and right. The movie panned over their camp, a shadow of the thing cast over the tent, and then suddenly it's nose was in the tent, sniffing cloths and their blankets. Twenty years ago it probably would have been really suspenseful. Suddenly someone in the camp screamed and then it was chaos. The Rex jerked it head out of the tent, the canvas stuck on its head, and it roared.

He'd heard somewhere after watching these movies a million times when he was young, that the T-Rex roar was actually an elephant noise. After all those school nights staying up too late with his brother, he wasn't afraid anymore, but when more lights flipped on and a figure walked quickly into his line of view, his heart did speed up a little. His brain was slow, he didn't react he was so tired, but the realization quickly calmed him.

"What's up, children of the candy corn?" It was only Jordan.

"Movie," Karin mumbled, her eyes not leaving the screen

"Cat," Naruto offered.

"Mm, I see," she said, in an amused sort of way. She sat down on the arm of the couch next to him, almost touching him, and he held his breathe. He didn't want to smell it if she'd been drinking. The stale, musky smell of the beer and the sharp sting of the alcohol assaulting his nose. He watched as she took off her two inch tall heels and dropped them to the floor next to her. He watched her lean down, run her foot where it was sore, and then stand up again. "Are you boys spending the night?"

He was forced to exhale just after she spoke, and when he inhaled again, he could smell the must from the bar she'd been at, the cigarette smoke on her cloth, but he didn't smell booze. He was happier about that then he should have been.

"Guess so," Suigetsu replied

"Suigetsu you can take the couch, Naruto you can sleep in my room. I'll sleep with Jordan. That way we won't disturb Sasuke," Karin instructed. He was glad she'd said that, but it made him wonder if Jordan had mentioned anything about his night to her.

Jordan didn't say anything, not even about his feet being on the table. She was probably as tired as he was. Neither Naruto or Suigetsu made a response either way so that was how it was decided. He watched Jordan slink off down the hall after a moment of watching the end of the mindless movie and he heard her door close. Karin got up next and left, but he didn't watch her leave, he was too busy watching the backs of his eyelids. He continued watching them too until Suigetsu gave him a rough shove and kicked him off the couch. Naruto was gone too, the whole house was going to bed.

He drug his feet just down the hall to the first door on the right and pushed open his door. He flipped on the light, because even if it did hurt his eyes, he still needed to see to put his pajama pants on. His finger went to the switch and the room lit. There was his bed, his nightstand covered in pop cans, the rug that picked his feet every morning when he got up, and one extra thing he wasn't planning on seeing.

Karin was laying on his bed, one hand fisted in his his dirty T-shirt and the other, well, he probably didn't want to know. She held his shirt near her face, which held the most surprised and horrified expression he'd ever seen.

"Sasuke, uh, I," she sputtered, " I'm gonna do laundry tomorrow, yeah, that's it, laundry, I just wanted to know if these were clean."

Hold on. That wasn't a shirt he realized, it was a pair of his underwear. Oh fucking shit.

"Karin," he pauses, thinking, of what he should say and what he should do, but the gears wouldn't turn, "I'll stay with Jordan."

So he left, thinking he's got to stop walking in on people that that. The walk down the hall was short, and the door was open. The lamp at the bedside was on, and she looked like she was changing a sheet or fixing a blanket.

"What?" She asked, standing up straight to look at him.

"Karin," he huffed. She didn't say anything, but with the smug smirk on her face she didn't need to. She thought it was funny.

He'd lost all ability to care though, and he stripped off his shirt on the way in to bed. He invited himself on to the unoccupied side and settled in right away. He felt her lay down shortly after.

"How was your mom's?," she offered and he contemplated that for a second before he decided himself too tired to answer. His eyes drifted shut seconds later. He could feel the warmth from her body, the plush of the mattress, all three of her soft blankets, and then he could feel her arm, pulling him closer to her body. He didn't fight her, he wanted to but he didn't.

This was home, he decided, and it too came with its ups and downs.


	12. Chapter 12: The Begining

The room was dark when Sasuke opened his eyes. Fall days were getting shorter so the sun wasn't all the way up when he was anymore, but it was up far enough to offer a little light. It wasn't time to get up yet, and he wasn't going to if he didn't have to. Cursing his internal clock, he pulled his blanket up closer to his face, closed his eyes, and turned over, now facing the left.

He relaxed, sighing and moving his arm to a more comfortable position, and he stayed like that for just a moment until he tensed back up. Something was bothering him, refusing let him fall back to sleep, but he had no idea what it was. He thought it was odd that there was an extra weight on the bed next to him, he was sort of being pulled to the left, like he was going down hill, and when he opened his eyes again, he realized there was a woman next to him in bed.

For the third time in his life Sasuke woke up next to someone. He didn't particularly like the close contact. Last night all came rushing back to him and he very vaguely remembered Jordan's arm around him. It took him off guard for a second, and he shrunk away from her.

He debated what he should do, now that he was awake and he had time. He'd woken up this morning, which was good news, but Karin was also in his room, it wasn't like he could go get dressed for work. He couldn't go out to the living room and hang out, Suigetsu was still on the couch. He could go for a walk though, he still had a shirt and a pair of pants, no matter how wrinkled they were still wearable.

Carefully, he climbed out of bed and picked up his sweater from the floor. He made sure to brush off his pants before he gently opened and shut Jordan's door, escaping the room and then escaping the house.

The sun hadn't made much progress over the horizon by the time he made it outside. It was pretty chilly though, chilly enough to make him wish he'd brought along another jacket. He started on the sidewalk, taking the path to the left and shoved his hands in his pockets. It was early enough yet that there was no sound through the neighborhood. If anyone else was awake they were being very quiet about it, just the way Sasuke liked. It had frosted again last night and the ice crystals hadn't completely left the lawns yet, ghosting patterns of cracks and crystalline structures over the fading grass. It'd be December next month, he realized. Hadn't he just been graduating high school? There was no way that was almost seven months ago.

The alarm on his phone went off, meaning he needed to go back to the house and get ready for work. He'd only made it about ten houses down the street, but with houses as large as these, he still felt refreshed when he walked back through the front door. It was nice to have some time to just let his brain veg out.

Walking from the silence outside to the chaos in his house was something else.

Naruto had somehow gotten ahold of both of his cats and held them both in one hand while shoving sugary cereal in his mouth with the other hand, all while watching a blasting TV. Fuji was attempting to play nice, but Gin, the nasty bastard, had his ears pinned to his head and omitted a deep toned yowl that never ceased. Sasuke could have swore he'd seen scratch marks that needed stitches on Naruto's arm, but he'd only breezed by on his way to the kitchen, he didn't care to look again.

The house's ring leader was standing in the kitchen when he entered. She wore her dark hair tired up in a knot on top of her head and wore a simple white button up blouse with the sleeves rolled up. He could only see her back, but he could hear something sizzling in a pan on the stove in front of her. Judging by the mess she'd made if the counter tops, Jordan was cooking.

Karin and Suigetsu were at the table in the dining room, fighting. He didn't have to see them to know. He could hear Karin's outraged screeches of frustration, Suigetsu's taunting laughter, and the clatter of something heavy on the floor. One of them had probably gone down. Sasuke winced.

If he had to pick, he was probably going to stay here with Jordan. He approached her.

"What are you making?"

She turned to look at him, smiling, and seemingly not surprised at all to see him standing there, "crapes! Your first in line, how many do you want?" She twirled the wooden spoon she held in her hand absentmindedly and waited for his answer. Not that he wasn't appreciative, but Karin always made the meals and this was highly unusual.

He decided two was fine for now and he watched her pour the batter into the pan she had on over the heat. She made both of them up for him, folded into triangles, still warm and stuffed with strawberries, blueberries, bananas and whipped cream. She'd held off on the chocolate syrup in favor of drizzling honey and caramel sauce, topping it with a healthy amount of powdered sugar.

Careful to avoid getting his fingers sticky, Sasuke dug in, cutting off manageable portions of the thin pancake to eat. Chewing, he watched his mentor pour more batter into the pan, cook the things, and then flip them out onto a paper towel covered plate. She burned more than she made, only because she wasn't watching them cook in favor of trying to clean up her mess or chop more fruit. Honestly, she couldn't have just made regular pancakes? It would have been easier.

He'd finished his breakfast in the time it took to finish an topping assembly line and get her own food onto a plate.

"Hey! Foods on, you little munchkins!" She shouted, stepping out of the way to stand near Sasuke.

Something in the dining room sounded like it split in half and then a rush of feet came clattering through the room. Suigetsu pushed and Karin shoved and the doorway barely got out of their way fast enough. Sasuke took a step back. Karin was screaming profanities at him like a banshee and Suigetsu body slammed her like a sumo wrestler. The red haired girl retorted by grabbing a hand full of his hair and yanking, causing the taller boy to attempt to pants her.

"Shouldn't you stop them?" Sasuke asked, turning to look at his mentor.

She stifled a laugh, "shouldn't you?"

Yes. Yes he probably should, they were his friends after all. On the other hand, it was easier just to follow Jordan out of the room.

Naruto passed him on the way into the kitchen, already shouting at his cousin and friend to stop fighting. He held a high five out to Sasuke which he left hanging, but the blonde goofball smiled at him anyway.

Fuji was looking exhausted, lounging on the sofa and swishing her tail in irritation. Sasuke didn't blame her, his best friend was a lot. He seated himself next to her and scratched her chin. He ran his hand down her back as a peace offering, but it was in vain. Fuji jumped down and strode across the floor to disappear into his bedroom, the fluff on her paws silencing her movement.

He had no doubt that the male cat, Gin, was hiding behind the couch, his ears still pinned and his long haired body crouched and ready to attack. He'd gotten lucky with Fuji, but Gin was an entirely different story.

Jordan sat down in the nearby armchair and crossed her left leg over her right. She picked over her food, slowly stabbing up fruit and tiny pieces of crape. The commotion from the kitchen calmed eventually and the sound of arguing was replaced by the clinking of forks on plates.

Sasuke turned to the tv as the house settled, the morning news was on and today's stock exchange speculation had begun. He knew stocks were complicated and he knew that he had no idea how to decode any of the numbers running or the symbols flashing on screen. He wanted to understand though, so he glanced over to his mentor to see what she was making of it. Jordan was eating very slowly and paying close attention, And she didn't look happy.

"Jordan," he quietly, "what is he talking about?"

She looked over quickly, glancing at a few of the numbers on screen and then replied, "the markets supposed to drop today, according to that," then she scoffed, "I guess our brokers' gonna be busy."

"How can you tell?" He asked, trying harder to see what she was talking about.

"Well, look at the arrows, down is losing, up is gaining, got that? Okay, and then look at that graph to the right." The graph sort of looked like a heart monitor, spikes going up and down with a dotted line running through the bottom spikes. "The line is today's opening price, the spikes are losses and gains, the trend lately is down, but it'll climb again, we just don't know when."

"Hey, Jordan," Karin interrupted suddenly, "Naruto invited Suigetsu and I down to the college for a festival or something, would it be okay to let the kitchen wait?"

"oh, I'll get it, go on and have fun," she grinned, and Karin was gone just long enough to change her cloths and do something with her hair. When she returned, she said some proper goodbyes and she left, she and her cousin piling into the white haired boy's car.

"We'll just take this morning easy hm?" Jordan said, standing up to stretch, "we'll go in a little late today. I'm gonna go start on the kitchen, I'm sure it's a worse mess than when I left it. Do you wanna come help me?"

Sasuke didn't, but he would. He got up too and trekked behind her into the kitchen. She was right, it was pretty bad.

The remaining fruit had found its way off the plates it originated on and joined its juice on the counter. The honey bottle was tipped over, the caramel sauce looked like it exploded, and the chocolate syrup had cascaded down the cupboard and on to the floor. Naruto's cereal bowl had somehow tipped over, spilling milk and marshmallows all over the counter and joined the chocolate on the floor. The resulting puddle was spreading.

"No wonder Karin left," he muttered. He hadn't realized she'd heard him until she reached over and patted his back.

"I'll get the honey if you get the chocolate," she replied. He agreed.

So they found a new roll of paper towel and a spray bottle of cleaning supplies and got to it. He couldn't get the stuff on the floor up right away, because then he'd be under Jordan's feet so he decided he'd help her scrub the red strawberry stains from the dark granite counter tops while he was at it.

Armed with only paper towel and a dish rag, they made short work of the mess. The chocolate on the wall was the hardest to clean up, but he got all of it up off of the ground and used soapy water to eliminate any lingering stickiness.

He wasn't paying attention to what his mentor was doing at all. She was a grown woman and she didn't need his help to clean up a little honey, even if they were working in such close proximity. He was standing up, whipping off the cabinet next to the stove when he felt her first bump him. She didn't even acknowledge it, so he chalked it up as an accident, but the next time with her hand brushed his arm, he knew it wasn't. He decided backing off was his best course of acting, so he took a step over to give her some space. Somehow though, her elbow still smacked his. It didn't hurt of course, but it was more than a subtle hint.

He took another step to the side in attempt to avoid whatever it was she was doing, but this time she took two steps over, pinning him between her and the counter.

They continued cleaning, neither of them so much as even looking up to see what the other was doing, and eventually she let up, giving him some space.

Sasuke, decidedly finished, threw out the paper towel he'd been using and took his rag over to the sink where he washed it out and laid it down for someone else to use later. He was ready to shower and change his clothes now, but Jordan was now working on the counter fairly close and between him and the rooms exit. As he turned around, so did she, leaving her rag on the counter. Now they faced each other and the conflict was unavoidable.

"So," she began very nonchalant, and he paused because she used one of those tones you could never be sure about, "why don't you tell me about your meeting with my merchandise head."

There was a right and wrong way to handle this, Sasuke decided. He'd already wronged Jordan by beginning this, he certainly did not want to do it again, so he choose his words very carefully, "I rejected his paperwork."

"Is that all?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She knew it wasn't.

"We had a meeting."

"And what did you discuss?" She was getting irritated by his short answers. Her features were twisting into a deep displeasure and he was beginning to worry he couldn't get out of this.

"I told him that his numbers were not realistic, and then I told him that he should use our unoccupied factory building to actually make something," he spoke slowly, pausing in the middle to swallow hard. He leaned backwards, against the cupboard for some support. She took a step closer.

"Why?" She asked. It was a very simple question only one answer. That he fucked up and that he was sorry and could she please, please fix it. Sasuke knew this, and he choose to say something else.

"Well, turns out he was embezzling money from us. So I thought, not only would be get some better numbers from the factory, we could blame our slow year on him, fire him, and then write it off," he lied. He lied to her face and right through his teeth and not even so much as a muscle twitched. "Did you know he was embezzling money?"

She seemed to consider that for a second, as if she didn't already know what was going on. Her next words were just as calculated as his.

"I did. "

She didn't say anything more. Sasuke had no doubt she knew this man was stealing from her, and he honestly didn't care why she never stopped him. The most likely reason was to prevent a legal investigation. Honestly, he wasn't sure how the management head was still alive with Nagato sitting a few offices up. If she really wanted to, she could have erased this man from existence.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Sasuke followed up tactically, coming off the counter. She didn't answer him.

He took a step foreword, invading Jordan's space, and then he watched in disbelief as the queen herself took a step back. When she realized what she'd just done, the expression on her face was initially of surprise and then confusion, which quickly shifted to something like outrage. As if he, the little worm she'd created, could win an argument with her?

But he'd challenged her, and she'd backed off. He'd trapped the black widow in a web of her own intimidation tactics. She was caught, now he just had to close the trap.

She shook her head, leaning away from him and her words sputtering until finally they formed something coherent. "I don't know what you're doing, but I have to go change my shirt."

Sasuke glanced down between them for a moment, and he saw the stain she was talking about. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe honey, and it'd probably permanently stain her white blouse if she didn't pre-treat it soon.

She drew away from him and he watched her body tense up, her throat contracted and he thought she was going to start screaming. Instead she drew in a breath, exhaled, drew in a deeper breath and exhaled again. She didn't relax right away, but she also didn't storm off when she left the room. She did slam her door though, that wasn't good.

Glancing at the clock, Sasuke realized he also needed to go change his shirt, his entire outfit actually. When he and Jordan emerged from their respective rooms, they both donned dress pants and work shoes.

"We're later then I wanted to be," Jordan hissed, clicking her tongue in distaste. She pulled one of her many cell phones from her pocket and dialed it. They were going to be there in no time, he wasn't sure why she needed to call in.

Jordan couldn't be bothered to wait until someone answered, she walked back into the kitchen, looking for her car keys and her sky high heels clicking all the while. He followed her, watching her face contort in wonder when no one answered her call. She called again, picking up her car keys and motioning him to follow her as they left the house. Jordan locked up and started the car, kicking on the heat as she stood in the cold morning air, the driver's door open while she waited for someone to answer. Still nothing.

"Someone's head is gonna roll," she hissed, sliding into her plush leather seat after pocketing her phone. No sooner had she closed the door and turned on her heated seats did another one of her phone's ring.

Jordan dug a tiny, ancient looking flip phone out of her blazer pocket and threw it to him as she pulled out of the drive way. Maybe flew out of the driveway was a better way to put it.

"Hello?" He asked, very nonchalant. The voice that replied to him was a complete opposite.

At first he thought it was Nagato calling, and then he realized, it was Kakuzu. He sounded stressed and frustrated, so frustrated he could have been mistaken for the irritable redhead, with maybe even a hint of fear when he spoke. He spoke carefully and clearly. "Meet me for lunch today at one thirty. My mother is coming."

"This is Sasuke, Kakuzu," he began, hoping to get the accountant's attention, "I'll tell Jordan."

"Great. Thank you," he replied, almost polite, "make sure you tell her exactly."

"What's he want?" Jordan asked, glancing away from the road for just a second.

"He says he wants you to meet him and his mother for lunch," Sasuke relayed, going for a pen in the console to write down the time, "at one thirty."

"Sasuke!" Jordan shouted, slamming in her breaks and jerking the wheel to the right, beaching the sports car on the side of the road, "hang that phone up right now!"

Before he could even move, she'd grabbed it out of his hand, flung open her door and threw it out into the busy four lane road. It was crushed almost instantly.

"Jesus H Christ! If anyone ever mentions anything about "one thirty," you run the other way from now on!" She shouted, bailing out of the car to retrieve the crushed hunk of plastic from the street, narrowly avoiding being hit herself. He watched her throw it on to the floor and stomp on it, as if it was venomous, and then quickly pluck it back to to inspect her handy work.

"What's going on?" He asked, bracing himself against the door, wide eyed and needless to say, surprised. His heart beat fast, she'd scared him, shouting and pulling off the road like that, and now he figured that was the least of his problems.

"One Thirty is code for don't come near the building," Jordan spoke, irritated. She glared at the phone, as if it could still hear her. "If anyone says their mom or grandma is coming to visit, it means we're being watched."

"Are there any more codes I need to know about?" He huffed sarcastically, pulling himself together. He thought they'd been caught somehow.

"Yeah, yeah uh, I'll tell you later, okay?" Jordan said, tossing the busted cell phone over her shoulder and into the back seat. She looked irked as she continued speaking, "but right now I need to figure out where we're going. Not to work, not home, not either of the spare houses, preferably someplace private. Any ideas?"

"My mother's," Sasuke suggested half heartedly, as more of a statement.

"Sasuke," she trailed off, grinning at him uneasily. They'd talk about this before.

"The check," he replied, pulling the crinkled, halved paper from his pocket. He'd neglected to give it to his brother or his mother.

"I really don't think that's a good idea," she pressed.

"There won't be any arguing, I promise," he offered his pinkie finger to her, reaching across the center console of the car.

"That's not what I'm afraid of," Jordan took her finger and wrapped it around his, childishly swearing that she wouldn't argue. "You never told me what happened, but I assume it wasn't good. Am I right?"

He shrugged, "I choose a bad time to visit."

"If you say so."

Jordan looked behind her to check if it was safe, and then she pulled back out into the street. She'd reduced her speed, but she was still speeding, and she checked her mirrors often. He checked them too, watching the cars behind them, but it didn't seem that anyone was following them.

Jordan took the long way around to his mother's house, stopping to get herself a coffee and him a pop from the fast food joint on the nearest corner. He hadn't known she drank her coffee black. In fact, he hadn't known she drank coffee at all. After parking in the street, Jordan carried her drink with her to the front door of his mother's house .

"This is better than I thought it'd be," she muttered, climbing the steps. He figured she'd only gotten out of the car because her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Taking a pull off of his soda, Sasuke knocked on the door, roughly rasping the wood three times. Itachi opened the door a few moments later.

The elder brother looked surprised to see the younger there, and then his gaze flicked to the woman on his porch and he paled. She grinned back at him.

"Sasuke," Itachi stammered, his eyes shifting between his guests, "I'm not sure if now is a good time."

"I've got the funeral money for mom," Sasuke stated, very plain. And then suddenly a woman's voice shouted from inside the house.

"Itachi? Is that my son?"

Itachi sighed, his shoulders heaving along with him, "Yes, mother."

"Let him in!" She shouted back.

Itachi stood still for another moment, blocking the door as he debated turning them away again. He looked over his shoulder, weighed his options one more time before he reluctantly stepped out of the way.

The living room was the same as when Sasuke had visited last night, with the exception of a few more beer bottles near where his mother was camped out on the sofa. She had one hand tangled in her dark hair as if her head was hurting, laying down and leaning on the arm of the couch, plus she looked a little pale and sickly, like she was nauseous. She glanced up for just a moment, and then back down at her ginger ale for a moment until she looked back up.

"Hello, I'm Katzuki Takashiro, call me Jordan. It's nice to meet you," the CEO grinned as she extended her hand to shake with Sasuke's mother.

"Mikoto," the woman's dark eyes flicked between the stranger and her boys, but neither of her sons made eye contact. Mikoto's face was as stone wall blank as her son's as she shook the stranger's hand.

"Please, sit," Itachi motioned, suddenly looking very worried. Well, about as worried as his hard features would allow. His eyebrows knitted together and his fingers flexed uneasily. Sasuke found himself mocking his older brother, shifting his weight from his right leg over to his left, only to shift again uncomfortably moments later.

Jordan looked behind her, and after dubbing the love seat clean enough to sit in, she took up her seat on the left, and Sasuke settled next to her. He didn't plan on straying far. Itachi sat in the armchair between the couches, like a moderator between two opposing sides.

The silence that followed with incredibly, utterly, without a doubt, the most uncomfortable silence Sasuke had ever experienced. The air was thick and tense. Both women judged each other, sizing each other up, one with a wicked grin and one disturbingly stoic.

Sasuke sat back on the couch, and then leaned forward moments later, only to try again to recline back into the seat. His legs refused to be still. Suddenly, his fingernails were very interesting and tearing them apart was a good investment of his time.

"You have a lovely home, how long have you lived here?" Jordan broke the silence, speaking to the woman of the house, causing her trainee to jump. Mikoto looked up from her drink.

"Twenty years," she answered wearily, and she didn't say anything more.

Jordan nodded, "and what do you do for work?"

"I'm," the Uchiha woman choose her words carefully, "taking some time off. What is it you do? I've heard some interesting things about you."

Jordan was prepared to take her bait. "I'm a business owner. I own a large corporation downtown."

It was Sasuke's mother's turn to nod, and the room fell silent after. Sasuke watched his mentor throw some scary looks at his brother, but that didn't last long. The atmosphere was getting heavy. Sasuke shifted in his seat again, moving just a few inches closer to Jordan. His mother was still looking down, taking tentative drinks of her ginger ale and glancing back and forth between her lap and the television. Itachi had his head down too, and Jordan noticed.

"So, Itachi," Jordan spoke smoothly.

The elder brother looked up.

"You're finishing up school hm? You're around that age. How much schooling do you have yet to go?"

"Well," Itachi began, stiffening, "I had one more semester. I've been pulling three of four semesters a year, I was going to graduate in May. Then I'd take my state bar and become a lawyer."

"Oh!" Jordan exclaimed, still grinning. Sasuke noted how strangely she was acting. She'd been very comfortable around Itachi before, and now she was acting very formal. "Why aren't you planning to finish?"

"Oh, I am planning to finish. It's just an issue of time, and, well, money, since my father's just passed," Itachi folded his hands in his lap and sat very still, trying very hard to avoid contact with his mother.

"Yes, we've had a very hard time the last two days," Mikoto agreed, sounding mildly annoyed.

"If money is an issue then, maybe I could help you," Jordan continued, not even bothering to glance at the other woman.

"Oh, I couldn't," Itachi insisted, "I have no way of paying you back."

Jordan's grin widened, "oh, you wouldn't have to. You could come to work for my company."

Itachi wasn't sure how to respond.

Sasuke knew exactly what was going on. She wanted to use his brother just like she was using everyone else. She planned to pull him into their shit show of a company, and keep him clutched in her collection of worker ants before he even knew what was happening. Maybe she had good reason. He hoped she had good reason. For once he hoped she knew something he didn't.

"Well, I'm not sure," the elder replied.

"Think about it," Jordan implored, her tone steady and even.

"Itachi can return to school whenever he wants. I hope to god he stays away from business legalities," Mikoto spat, sitting up and slamming her drink down on the coffee table, but not hard enough to spill it.

"Is that so?" Jordan asked in mock surprise.

"Yes, it is so," Mikoto hissed, "and how dare you come into my house like this? I found my husband dead not forty eight hours ago, and this is how I'm treated? After tragedy struck a family that's been together over twenty years?" Mikoto never rose her voice, but the bitter harshness of her words and the hatred in her tone made up for that.

Hold on, what had she just said?

Jordan's eyebrows rose. Before she could reply and cause any more trouble, Sasuke spoke for the first time.

"I thought Itachi found dad?"

He watched his mother go ridged. She stammered out a few "I, well, I"s and then she quickly turned to Itachi for help. The elder brother stood up, about to ask the to leave, but Jordan stood up too, a triumphant smirk set on her features.

"I think that's enough for today," Jordan said, standing to face Itachi. So much for not arguing.

As Sasuke walked from the couch to the door, leaving his mother and brother behind, he didn't feel like himself. He felt like he was watching this all from third person, and he didn't feel the least bit bad. He didn't feel nervous anymore, or sad for his father, he didn't feel anything but numb. He didn't feel like his arms were part of his body when he dug the wrinkled check from his pocket, took a second look at it, and walked back to his fuming mother.

"What could you possibly want now?" She asked, like he was some sort of traitor. Her words went in one ear and out the other and were gone before he could even hear what she said.

"This is for the funeral." Someone said using Sasuke's voice, which was as void as the look on his face. "Do whatever you like with it."

The next thing Sasuke knew he was back inside the Jaguar. He didn't remember how he'd gotten there, but he supposed it didn't matter.

"I'm sorry about that Sasuke, I really am," Jordan confessed, swearing after realizing she'd left her coffee, "I promised and I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he droned. He didn't care either way right now.

She spared him a glance as she drove through an intersection under a yellow light.

They'd just pulled into a pricey coffee shop and gotten out of the car when another of Jordan's cell phones rang, and this time she answered it instead of handing it to him.

"Hello?" She asked, holding open the door for him and fallowing as he entered. He could hear Kakuzu on the other side of the line, screaming, ranting and raving, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. The conversation continued as they joined the fast moving line.

The coffee house smelled like fresh roasted coffee beans and dark chocolate. It had a certain energy in the air with its inhabitants rushing around in their green aprons. It was incredibly noisey with three or four blenders running, a dishwasher going and the constant clinking of plastic on the counter as employees beat the last bit of chocolate into the bottom of a frappuccino. Sasuke felt so dull, very few of his senses picked any of it up.

"Well what'd she do about it?" Jordan asked, scowling suddenly and put her free hand on her hip. He could hear Kakuzu screaming back into the phone.

"Well why did you just let it happen?" She spat, "who else was there?"

They found themselves nearing the front of the line and Jordan was still on the phone. Sasuke looked between the CEO and the smiling cashier and thought about how much he didn't want to speak to her. He tried to turn away, but the line was still moving, and Jordan's phone still glowed.

"Okay, okay," Jordan said in a huff, "hold on, I'm getting coffee. Sasuke, sweetheart, would you please order me a Chai Latte? No whip, soy milk, with hazelnut and a double shot of espresso. Get whatever you want okay? Use your card."

And then her and her clicking heels stepped out of line and left the store to speak with her exhusband in the privacy of her car. Inwardly, Sasuke groaned.

Never mind that a latte was made with espresso, he was having a hard time remembering exactly what Jordan had said when he stepped up to the counter. The line behind him was full of rushing interns and busy business people and Sasuke thought they actually might lynch him when he got up to the counter and said "um."

"It's okay," the girl behind the counter smiled, completely unlike any of Jordan's smilies, "take your time."

Sasuke shifted his weight from one foot to another, uneasily looking up at the menu. What the hell was a pumpkin spice and why the fuck did a small cost four dollars? He felt like he had no voice. He felt warped and twisted, and he felt like he was still watching himself from third person.

"Chai latte," he muttered, unsure, "with nutmeg, and espresso. No extras."

She'd said nutmeg right? He wasn't sure. He shifted again, feeling like all eyes were on him. A shiver ran down his spine and his hands felt cold. His throat was dry. When his gaze returned the the blonde barista, he found he couldn't make eye contact with her.

"Anything else?" The barista asked.

"Yes," he trailed off, "I just want, uh, like a," he stammered, his eyes searching for something that wasn't lost. He looked back up at the menu, with no idea what to say now. Why was choosing coffee so hard? The man behind him was looming, the bustling of the shop was too much. "I just want a coffee. Nothing with caramel or funny flavoring."

He didn't even like coffee, he realized, but it was too late now.

"I'll make you just a regular latte, okay?" The blonde grinned, "okay, so a skinny Chai latte with nutmeg and a shot of espresso, and your latte. That'll be fourteen ninety."

With shaking hands, Sasuke handed her his card. It was like slow motion as she slid it and handed it back to him.

"What's the name for the order?" She asked, finishing her company directed dialogue.

"Sasuke," he answered quickly, and hurriedly stepped out of line. He heaved a heavy sigh as he sat down and pulled out his phone to pass the time until the drinks were up. When the Barista called his name, he quickly took them, nodding her in thanks as he left the building. She smiled and waved before rushing back to work.

Sasuke used his hip to push open the door as he walked out, a hot cup in each hand. He strode down the sidewalk and back to the Jaguar. Jordan saw him coming and her scowl deepened, and as he neared the car, he saw that she was still on the phone.

"And why didn't Nagato know about all this?" He heard her ask as he set one cup on top of the car and opened the door. Not to him of course. He grabbed the cup and got in, sat them both down on the dash, and shut the door.

"I don't fucking know!" This time he heard Kakuzu answer.

"Why don't you god damn find out?" She spat back, and heaved an exasperated sigh, "alright, look, I'm not going to talk about this anymore. Someone has to go get her."

Sasuke handed Jordan her coffee as Kakuzu responded, muffled again.

"Alright, fine. I will. It's done. But you're taking me and Sasuke to dinner tonight. Somewhere expensive, you money grubbing bastard," Jordan growled and hung up the phone before any more arguing ensued. She threw her coffee back like a shot right after, and almost spat it out when it hit her mouth. At first Sasuke thought it was because it was hot, but then she almost shouted, "Jesus Christ! Can't anyone make coffee right?!"

Sasuke didn't tell her that he'd given the barista incorrect instructions. He looked away from her as she jerked out of the parking spot, and he took a sip of his coffee.

"Alright, so here's the deal," Jordan began, rocketing out of the parking lot, "you know Konan? The lawyer?"

Sasuke didn't respond to any of her rhetorical questions.

"Well anyway, she got arrested this morning. I guess the cops locked the whole building down and searched every floor for her. The damnest thing though, when Kakuzu demanded to see the warrant, he said they knew which floor she was on."

Sasuke's head was still dealing and reeling from the events at his mother's, and he was still having a hard time putting two and two together. He could, however, manage to understand that locking down the building was a scare tactic. He wondered why no one else had been arrested.

Jordan used her blinker, veering across three lanes of traffic in a fury of squealing tires as they joined the highway. Horns blared behind them. Jordan took another sip of her coffee and acted as if nothing happened. "Anyway, we've got to go bail her out."

Jordan pushed the car to ninety on the highway, shifting up over and over until she reached her chosen gear. The graffiti on the highway walls and the highway divider flew by. The car seemed to devour the road as it continued, breezing past other cars. She stayed in the left most lane, the fast lane, and her focus was on the horizon. The way to the county jail all looked exactly the same. Bare trees occasionally lined the path of concrete and painted white lines. He hadn't been watching the clock, so he wasn't sure how long they were into their half hour journey when Jordan spoke. She muted the radio and spared him a glance before her eyes flicked back to the road.

"I know that you're upset, but you don't need to close yourself off."

Sasuke shrugged and turned his attention out the window.

"Karin texted me earlier and said she won't be home tonight. If you'd like I can leave too and you can have the house to yourself," she offered.

"No," he muttered, shaking his head. He did like to be alone, but he didn't want her to go. That surprised her.

"What can I do to help you?" She asked, slowing down to eighty as she merged in to the middle lane.

He didn't know. Honestly. He had no idea. He shrugged again. Jordan didn't say anything else, just turned the blaring rap music back on and got in the rightmost lane in preparation to get off the highway.

The county jail was located in the next city over, separated from their own by a section of expensive subdivisions. The building was rectangular, with four hexagonal turrets coming off of it, two in the back, and one on each flank. It was a four floored building not far off the highway, made of brick with a crumbling parking lot. It looked so unassuming as they approached, the building's exterior was clean and without cracks, it didn't loom over them and it didn't look brooding either.

The lobby of the building was tiled from midway down the wall with an unclean, ugly colored looking tile until it meet cheap, white, linoleum tile. The remainder of the wall some kind of unidentifiable material, painted brown and decorated irregularly with photos of county landmarks. Chairs from no earlier from nineteen-ninety two lined the walls and faced out from the middle of the room with two aisle ways leading to a receptionist behind a bulletproof window. Sasuke's feet stuck to the floor as he followed Jordan to speak to the woman behind the counter.

"I'd like to post bail for Konan Minami," Jordan stated, setting her purse up on the counter and produced her favorite credit card.

"You do know how much her bail is set at, don't you?" The woman asked, looking up from her computer. Sasuke would bet his right arm it was over ten thousand.

"I don't care," Jordan replied. With raised eyebrows the woman turned back to the computer, and printed something out. She stapled the pages together and rummaged around her desk to find what she needed. The woman slid a clipboard with the papers and a pen attached through a slot in the glass and instructed Jordan to fill it out. Jordan traded her credit card for it and pulled Sasuke along with her as she sat down in one of the chairs closest to the counter.

He watched her fill it out, signing, initialing and then signing again. Finally she finished, returned the clipboard, put her credit card away, and then finally returned to settle down and wait it out.

"She said twenty minutes," Jordan kept her voice low in the closed room, "which probably means four hours."

Jordan sat back and kicked her leg out, trying to pretend like she wasn't sitting on a chair less comfortable than bricks. Sasuke leaned into the back rest and pulled his phone out of his pocket. The two resolved to wait it out, and it was unpleasant to say the least.

The room had smelled fine when they entered, and honestly Sasuke hadn't of been paying attention when they were at the window, but the longer he sat, the more the room smelled like honest to god urine. There weren't any puddles or particular looking spots on the floor, but after about twenty minutes, the smell was unescapable.

People passed in and out of the room, some dressed well with starched white collars and others with hands blackened by grease. Sasuke wasn't counting, but at least twenty people came and left in just one hour. As people got out of work, the number doubled and seats quickly filled up.

Time crept by. Two hours became three, three became four, and four became five. Time crawled. His phone battery slowly decreased, and he watched the green bar shrink. Sasuke didn't care though, he'd checked all his social media many, many times and he was though texting anyone that would listen. Finally, after five and a half hours of waiting, Konan strode through the door.

"I need a bleach shower and some panera bread," the blue haired woman spoke. She was clearly disgusted, frustrated, pissed off and unable to handle any more, "I'm so done right now."

"I'd love to go with you, but after I drop you off, we're having a family dinner," Jordan scoffed, standing up quickly and grabbing her bag. Sasuke was up right after her, stretching his legs and arms like he'd been in lockdown.

"Family dinner huh? That ought to be fun," Konan stated. It was a joke, a very dry, sarcastic joke, but if Sasuke hadn't know known better, he would have never picked up on it.

"You have no idea," Jordan replied, opening the door to freedom and holding it open for Konan and Sasuke.

"Next time I'm demanding they put me in a woman's jail. General population is for lunatics and imbecile," Konan didn't give any indication of the context of her statement, what she said just was. The trio crossed the parking lot and Sasuke got into the back seat. He settled into the middle and cinched his seat belt up tight.

"Did you get a hearing date?" Jordan asked, pulling out of the parking lot at break neck speed, despite it being a jail with tons of cops around.

"I did. The first week of December. I'm going to try to stretch the case out until after Christmas at least," Konan commented, gazing out the window just as he had on the way to get her.

"Why?" Jordan asked, hopping on to the highway, "you don't think there's a chance you'll lose, do you?"

"There's always a chance I'll lose," she replied, "it'll be alright. Don't worry."

The monotone woman's words didn't help Jordan any. Jordan wouldn't even look at her.

When they arrived at the downtown loft Konan called home, Nagato was waiting for her with a kiss and a bottle of wine. Sasuke saw them through a window when he got out of the back to sit in the front. Konan hugged her boyfriend, and they just held each other. Sasuke wasn't sure for how long, because when he sat down in the front seat, he couldn't see them anymore. Jordan pulled out shortly after.

Jordan was oddly silent. Now he understood why Jordan wanted Itachi so badly. Konan was going to prison. The Feds were catching up to them. His plan to gain the upper hand and change the company hadn't worked fast enough. He had some control, but could he make changes fast enough to save anyone at this point. Konan was beyond his help. Could he even save his own skin?

He wondered, vaguely, if Jordan had been like that with Kakuzu. They'd loved each other once upon a time, and they didn't absolutely hate each other now.

Konan's loft was relatively near the financial destruct and the company building, about twelve minutes away with no traffic. It was rush hour though, so it took more like twenty five. They got on the ramp they usually took home from work and drove home in the premature darkness of the mid-November night. The Jaguars headlights lead the way down the highway as they wove through cars also on their way home. Street lights lit the way down all four lanes and up the off ramp. The sky was clear of clouds, taking away the warmth they'd offered the last few nights. The heat was on and so was the heater in Sasuke's seat to combat that chill. His blazer offered him heat too, and so did his long sleeved dress shirt. He was comfortable, gliding down the concrete fast lane, with warm air and warm presence. When they arrived home, Kakuzu's car was in the driveway and he was inside.

The outside lights as well as the majority of the inside lights were off. The entrance hall was dimly lit by the glow of lights from the living room, and the kitchen lights that were almost always on were dark too. Jordan's house was usually lit up like a runway, it was strange to see it this way.

"Took you long enough," the emerald eyed man remarked from the arm chair in the living room.

"You got out of work two hours ago, shut up," she snapped, putting her hands on her hips. She stood in the center of the room, obstructing her exhusband's view of the television. The man in question had his feet up, watching a closing bell report. He wore his work clothes, and sat his shoes down next to the chair.

"Stop turning off all my fucking lights!" Jordan barked, like he'd done this before. Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

"Do you know how high your electric bill is going to be?"

"I don't care," she growled, "honestly," she huffed, and then ordered, "Sasuke, go change."

She wasn't In the mood for anything less than swift obedience. Not that Sasuke thought she'd yell at him, but he figured with Jordan irritable and Kakuzu being himself, he'd cause a fight if he was tardy. He donned a comfortable grey sweater and a pair of dark jeans at first, but then after realizing why Kakuzu hadn't worn something casual and more comfortable over, he changed his clothes again to a pair of slacks and a blue pinstriped dress shirt he didn't think he'd ever worn before. They were going somewhere expensive, that'd been the deal.

He didn't wear a tie, but he did bring his blazer just in case he got cold.

Jordan was already in the living room, turned around while her exhusband buckled a simple silver necklace for her. The woman had unknotted her hair from its all day up do to let it fall short of messily around her shoulders. She'd kept her same black dress pants she'd worn to work but exchanged her shirt and jacket for something a bit more feminine. Her blazer was styled differently than the average ones she wore to work, it was charcoal grey and the buttons began just under her breasts, giving the neck sort of a v shaped look, and under that she wore a pastel pink, scalloped necked blouse.

Kakuzu handed her a pair of sunglasses over her shoulder after checking to make sure the necklace was clasped correctly.

"Where'd you get these?" She asked, her face lighting up as she unfolded them to slide them onto her face.

"I found them at an optometrist's office across town. Last pair," the accountant smiled. Sasuke approached them, and realized he'd bought her a replacement pair of the sunglasses she'd lost.

"They're last season's," Jordan grinned, sort of sheepishly, "I'm suppressed anyone had them. Thank you so much."

Kakuzu nodded, and his hands fell away from her form slowly. "Are we ready to finish molesting my wallet for the night?"

"Yes, yes, we are," Jordan turned to look at Sasuke, grinned even wider, and then turned to face Kakuzu again.

"Alright," the accountant muttered and lead the way outside. The three of them piled into the Mustang and Kakuzu drive them up town, to a pricier sector of the city. Before he was Sasuke Takashiro, back when he was just Sasuke Uchiha, he'd driven though this part of town, thinking that all of this would always be off limits. Now, rolling down the well lit street, in an expensive car, wearing expensive new clothing, and hanging out with two multimillionaires, this street never looked so inviting.

The valet parked their car when they arrived, and the walk to the entrance was lined with well taken care of fauna, in various states of winterizing and wilt but none the less pretty. Kakuzu made sure to keep Jordan between himself and the building, like a true gentleman and he thought maybe he'd seen the older man offer her his jacket too.

The lobby of the building had a 'please wait to be seated' sign and a bench near the door for patrons to wait for the rest of their party, but the similarities to a normal restaurant stopped there. Beyond a set of velvet ropes and a podium hosting the reservation list, three expensive chandeliers hung glittering and gleaming from the towering ceiling. Crystal fell from its lighted base and cascaded down in shining, straight strands. Around the edge of the fixture, bright gems twisted and helixed around the others.

"I tried to buy those once. They're three of a kind, made in Italy, and they aren't for sale," Jordan murmured, watching him gawk at the diamond likeness above.

The man with the reservations booklet apparently recognized Kakuzu, because immediately he swept his arm back and graciously said 'right this way,' as a boy appeared to escort them to their table. They were lead past man playing a beautiful ivory piano, and many other well dressed patrons on their way to their table. The piano particularly caught Sasuke's eye. They keys were old ivory and aged well with time. The gentle resonance of the instrument would have been paired well with a cello, but alone it's master commanded its musical spell quite well.

The rounded table in which they were seated was covered with a real linen tablecloth, starch white and free of any stain. Each table placement was set for each guest, including too many forks Sasuke would never know what to do with, and gold rimmed fine china. Wine glasses were laid out and next to the candle in the table's center was an ice bucket with the table's own bottle of champagne. The chairs were cushioned with red velvet on their ornately carved, hardwood seats and the floor was free of debris, giving no resistance as Kakuzu pulled out Jordan's chair and pushed it in once she'd settled down. With the lady sitting, it was appropriate for the men to sit down next.

Two or three waiters were on them in seconds. One distributed menus, another uncorked the champagne, yet another brought his under aged self a glass of clear, lemon lime soda. Yet another man poured the adults their drinks and then suddenly they were all gone.

Sasuke wasn't aware just how loud the clinking of silverware on plates and the gentle murmur of so many people talking at once could be until his own table was silent to read the menu. Beside being unable to focus, the prices of the food absolutely blew his mind. A steak was literally fifty dollars, not including anything on the side. He decided he'd order whatever Jordan was ordering.

A well dressed waiter approached them after exactly twelve minutes, the optimal time to allow your patrons to look at their menus. Apparently. Kakuzu made note of it after the waiter left.

"Full seven tonight," Kakuzu replied after being asked for what Sasuke was beginning to understand was the table's selection. "Egg caviar for the appetizer, House soup is fine, lobster pasta for the main."

"Lobster?" Jordan mocked, and then looked in his direction, "Sasuke do you like lobster?"

All six sets of eyes were on him suddenly. He shrugged.

"What about some kind of bird? You wouldn't happen have Cornish hen, would you?" Jordan turned back to the waiter with a gentle smile on her face and batted her eyelashes a few times. The man smiled back at her and said he'd see what he could do.

Egg caviar, aka the first course, probably tasted almost as absolutely disgusting as it looked. Two halved eggs came to him on a smaller gold rimmed plate that was set on top of his larger one. He peered at it between his bangs before deciding to pick up a fork and taste it. The eggs were probably deviled or something, with the yoke filling piped back inside of them in a decorative sort of swirl and topped with the blackened fish eggs. Sasuke thought you weren't supposed to eat black stuff. It looked like mold.

No sooner had to picked up a fork did Jordan scold him.

"That's the wrong fork," she instructed lively, "start from the outside and work in. Oh, sweetheart, keep your hands off the table."

Glancing down, Sasuke returned his fork to its spot next to his plate and pick up the one furthest from the plate. He halved an egg and shoved it in his mouth. Immediately he grimaced. It was exactly as suspected, it was gross as all get out.

He set his fork down and looked up to observe the adults, as if they were doing something he wasn't. The table was quiet, both of them too busy eating to notice him watching. He was reminded just who he was dealing with as he watched Jordan scape the blackened fish eggs off of the hen's egg and reach over gently to place it on her exhusband's plate. These were not the middle class people that he'd grown up around. They liked pizza just as much as the next guy, sure, but watching Jordan smile and Kakuzu's General pissed off-ness lighten, he remembered they'd probably both grown up with formal dinners and weird, expensive food. Jordan for sure, and for whatever reason, they found this relaxing.

He was a lot different than they were.

He wasn't relaxed at all.

He glanced back down at his food. Jordan didn't like the stuff either, and right there he made a decision that, well, if (when) the nasty shit ended up in his napkin, that was purely coincidental.

A salad came next, with hardly any dressing, and that was something Sasuke couldn't understand. Who actually wanted to taste lettuce? He was thanking the fine dining gods that the portions were small. Soup followed and after that, a glass bowl of lemon sorbet was presented to him, and he didn't understand that either.

"It's to cleanse your palate," Jordan tried to explain, but Sasuke couldn't wrap his head around that one. He'd go along with it, but he wouldn't claim to understand.

He found himself doing a lot of starring at his food.

A meat dish followed that, small cuts of lightly sauced chicken or some other like kind of bird was placed in front of him. He watched Jordan use her left hand to hold her fork and her right to cut the meat, which was odd because he knew she was right handed. He figured that was another one of those fine dinning things. This time, it didn't apply to him because he was already left handed. The poultry was the first thing he'd eaten in entirety. It actually tasted quite nice with the herbs used with it. It was actually eatable, even if it did taste dry to him.

The waiter cleared their plates away in preparation for the meat course, and finally they used the large plate they'd been setting everything else on. The waiter survey them a fairly large cut of pork for the meal along with a vegetable medley and red skinned potatoes. This, Sasuke thought, looked good.

He really wasn't a huge fan if pork or red meat, but he dug in just as soon as he thought it was acceptable. Sasuke was hungry, he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and though he wouldn't have picked this for dinner, he wasn't denying that it was good. The pork was even better than the chicken.

"Sasuke, don't eat so fast," Jordan scolded again, reaching over to pull some lint off if his shirt. She pulled the white fuzzy from his person and hid it inside her napkin. "I'm gonna start keeping a lint roller on me, I swear. And Sasuke, you know, you should eat those asparagus sprigs. They're are good for you."

Had she honestly just told him to eat his vegetables? Honestly? He looked up at her mid chew, and resumed eating, but much slower.

"Oh my god, leave him alone," Kakuzu groaned. His palm meet his face in the living embodiment of a scowl. Jordan looked from Sasuke to Kakuzu, her eyebrows raised and her features flashed irritated for a split second. They were in a restaurant after all.

"You've been pestering him all night. Let him learn," the older man insisted, trying to keep his voice down and his temper from failing.

"I'm trying to teach him," she hissed a 'higher than thou' tone, narrowing her eyes, "try to be a little more pleasant, will you? I'm pretty sure my printer has more of an emotional range than you do. Perpetually annoyed is getting old."

Kakuzu rolled his eyes at her comment and picked up his wine glass. "Yeah. And you're a royal pain in my ass."

Jordan's expression changed quickly. Her lips upturned and the annoyance fell away. Sasuke knew that look.

"Sasuke, do you hear how he's talking to mommy? Oh, how naughty of Daddy," Jordan said in mock surprise. Kakuzu nearly spat out his drink.

Kakuzu bristled after swallowing hard, "don't call me that in public!"

Hold on, hold on. Had she just insinuated she called Kakuzu daddy? Suddenly Sasuke wasn't sure if he wanted to continue eating.

"You brought it on yourself," Jordan commented, bringing another fork full of food to her lips.

"Katzuki, you make a mockery of family dinner," the accountant sighed, and then suddenly he grunted and he looked outraged, "_Did you just kick me under the table?_"

"Sasuke, did you kick Kakuzu?" Jordan asked, still looking quite sly.

Sasuke didn't respond. He looked down, took a few more bites, and then when he looked up again Jordan was still waiting for an answer. Oh, she was serious. "No."

"Must have been me then," Jordan shrugged.

Kakuzu groaned and decided to just drop the topic all together.

He didn't want to argue, for once. Sasuke could see it in his features that he was superbly angry. Usually the pair hashed it out until someone left or Jordan won, but Kakuzu just dropped it, just like that. He watched the man draw in a breathe and exhale. He must have counted to ten or something, because then he relaxed and the tension fell away from from the table.

He'd called her Katzuki, Sasuke realized as he finished his meal and the waiter took away his plate, he'd never heard anyone call her that but herself.

The final thing the wait staff brought to the table was three slices of chocolate cake. The waiter set them out carefully, centering the plate directly in front of him and perfectly between the left over silverware.

The cake was pretty much perfect. It was light, fluffy, moist and the frosting wasn't over powering. It was deliciously sweet but not so sweet it hurt his teeth. This, he decided, was the best part of the meal.

Sasuke was mid way through his chocolatey delight when a woman approached their table. A full string of pearls was strung around her neck, contrasting her long black dress and complimenting her silver hair. The woman had her mink skin coat done up and she held her cigars holder between two fingers, clearly preparing to leave.

"Excuse me ma'am," the older woman began, drawing the attention of the lady at the table, "but might I say that you have a beautiful family."

Jordan's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Thank you, so much!" She exclaimed, sitting up straighter and grinning wider. She didn't even care to correct the woman on her marital status, and never mind the fact that Sasuke wasn't related to either of them, his mentor's chest (and head) swelled with pride.

"You're very welcome," The woman smiled back and caught the arm of her husband who escorted her from the dining room.

Jordan was still grinning and looking very self satisfied as she brought her glass of champagne to her lips and finished it off. Kakuzu's sour gaze met her's, but her features remained unchanged.

Sasuke couldn't actually believe he actually got mistaken for their son. Jordan was mistaken for his mother. For god sakes, _Kakuzu_ had gotten mistaken for his _father_. His _father_! Yeah, sure, all three of them had dark hair, but they didn't look anything alike!

"Stupid broad," the accountant muttered, rolling his eyes as he produced his wallet, probably trying to calculate how much money he'd have left after this endeavor.

"What? He's the closest thing to a son you're ever going to get," Jordan shot back. Sasuke almost choked.

"That's too far," the older man accused, but Jordan laughed it off.

"It's not funny," Kakuzu insisted.

"It's very funny. You two are so similar it's uncanny."

"And just how are we so similar?" Kakuzu probed, his emerald eyes looking a little more annoyed than usual.

"Oh, never mind," Jordan giggled, shaking her head, "just forget I said anything."

Sasuke had to listen to Kakuzu ranting about how expensive the check was the entire way home. It'd come out to something like three hundred seventy three dollars. With tip and tax, it was more than that. It was around nine o'clock when the mustang pulled into the driveway, twelve hours since he'd left and he wasn't sure how many it'd been since he'd women up. He was tired, and he was ready for bed.

Jordan got out of the car when he did, and Kakuzu mocked her. For a split second, Sasuke thought Kakuzu was spending the night, but then he crossed in front of the car the same time Jordan did and they wrapped each other in a tight hug.

Jordan's heels added two inches, bringing her closer to her towering exhusband's height. She was too tall to press her face into his chest or even into the crook of his neck, she could, however, tilt her forehead to rest on his momentarily as he lay a peck on the bridge if her nose. Jordan had been smiling all night, but not like this. The surly accountant never looked so happy.

"I'll call you before you come in tomorrow, to make sure it's safe," the accountant spoke gently as the pair separated.

"Okay," the woman replied, her touch not lingering. They were apart just as quickly as they'd come together. Kakuzu turned, pulled his car keys out of his pocket, and left. As Jordan's shoes clicked their way up the front walk and her keys jingled the door open, it was as if nothing had transpired. The inside of the house was just as dark as they'd left it and Jordan quickly began turning on lights and settling down to watch some television. Casting his original plans to shower aside, Sasuke decided he'd get to that in the morning. He stripped down, put on a clean pair of boxers and climbed into his bed with his cat.

His phone illuminated the darkness as he unlocked it and pulled up his messager app. Naruto had texted him well over thirty times over the course of the day and he'd gotten a few from Sakura and Ino, as well as one text from Karin of something funny she'd found online. He opened the folder of texts from his blonde best friend and decided to reply.

"What's up" he wrote, no punctuation added. Naruto responded immediately.

"Where have you been you asshole?!"

"Out," Sasuke responded. Naruto sent a frowning face emoji back and then he started typing again.

"Karin told me your dad died. I'm sorry."

Sasuke swore and covered his face with his hand. He didn't want to be reminded. What was he going to say to that? His phone dinged again.

"You know, I should have heard it from you!" The text message read, "your just being your usual self centered self, I suppose."

"Can't help it," Sasuke texted back.

"Get some sleep smartass!" Naruto replied, followed by a string of different animal emoji. Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat his phone down on the charger. A furry head wormed its way under his hand as Fuji begged for his attention. Sasuke gave it to her, letting his eyes drift shut to the gentle lull of her purring.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me this far! we're about half way though I think, and stuff's getting good. You'll have to forgive me for not updating last month, we brought my horse to live at my house and I was busy with that all month. We built a barn and put up a fence. Its been really nice having her home.

So, I write these chapters assuming that my readers have read every chapter. As I look at my story stats, I see different numbers of people reading my chapters. I hope it does not reflect what people think of my stories if they miss details given in other chapters.

Just in case anyone's wondering, I've got ages and heights set out for everyone.

Sasuke is 19, and he stands at five foot six and a half, half an inch from his shippuden height, and he's still growing.

Jordan is 32, and she's five foot eight, but her shoes add two or three inches.

Kakuzu is six foot, his canon data book height. He's 45.

Karin is 18, and she's five foot five, an inch taller than canon, and still growing. Kakashi and Nagato are 30 and 35 respectively, and both are the same as height as in the series.


	13. Chapter 13: Trouble Does Not Hold Wisdom

November twenty seventh was a bitter cold day. The sky was grey and overcast, and it spat snow. The wind blew unforgiving, cutting through coats and reddening faces as people filed out of Konoha city's more modest funeral homes to their cars.

A little red flag flapped in the wind on the top of the Jaguar when Sasuke emerged, followed by Jordan, Karin, Naruto. Jordan's black heels were the only sound as they crossed the parking lot.

There were so many ways he'd rather spend a Saturday.

Hell, he'd rather take a tour of a caramel factory.

But he was burying his father and it couldn't be helped.

All four black clad people piled in to the Jaguar, with Sasuke riding in the passenger seat and Jordan at the wheel. Both Uzumaki kids sat silently in the back seat. Today, Sasuke had their respect. Neither uttered an impolite word to each other or him.

He watched his mother's car drive by, but in the shadow of the clouds, he couldn't see who was driving. He knew it was Itachi though, his mother was a mess. Shisui's car was following not far behind.

Sasuke recognized a few other cars. A few guys from the police station, guys his father had known for years, who patted his back and told them how sorry they were, followed after Shisui, his grandparents were after them with his aunt driving the car. His uncles, cousins, other friends of the family followed shortly after, they were all here to support the family.

Sasuke didn't feel so included in that family anymore.

Jordan's car brought up the back of the procession. Naruto and Karin spoke Idlely in the back seat, discussing how thanksgiving was, only two days ago. Naruto had spent it with Karin's parents, as it happened, as well as the rest of his mother and father's family. Karin, Jordan, and himself and spent it with Kakuzu, at home.

They'd gone Black Friday shopping for a few hours, Sasuke vividly remembered, just him and Karin. It was not relaxing, usually when he did things with people his age it was relaxing. Maybe it was just because he was on edge more so than usual, with today being the funeral and all. Maybe it was because the mall was a mad house. Probably both.

They parked quite always from everyone else, on top of a hill and around a curve in the road. The other funeral goers had parked near the hearse, their cars lining the road. The four of them used the pristine black topped path to walk to the grave site. When they arrived, the poll bearers we're bringing the casket out of the hearse.

Sasuke had not been asked to help.

However, Shisui and his brother had.

Of course he felt no contempt toward them, but now he certainly did towards his mother.

Mikoto was leaning on the shoulder of her sister in law, sobbing uncontrollably in to her sleeves. Her face looked worn, like someone had scratched those tear streaks in to the redness of her cheeks with sandpaper. Her face was probably hot, her skin probably burned in the cold. Itachi wasn't much better. As soon as he'd let go of the casket and stepped away, he was covering his eyes as they stung with salty tears. His hair was a mess, wet from the weather and tied up in a quick bun in an attempt to make himself look a little more presentable. Shisui had a reassuring hand on his back, but Shisui wasn't exempt of emotion himself.

Their group found a spot near the pastor, standing diagonally from his mother and straight across the grave from his brother. Sasuke looked over to Jordan standing on his right, who looked down at him for just a moment. He wasn't even sure if she could see him behind her dark sunglasses.

"Are you okay?" She asked, pulling a tissue from her purse to hand to him. He took it and tucked in to his pocket.

"Yes," he lied. That was the easiest lied he'd ever told.

She didn't respond, only pulled another pair of sunglasses out of her purse and handed them to him. She really did think of everything, he decided, putting them on. He'd already told himself he wasn't going to cry, but now if he did, no one would know it. Karin, who stood to his left and overheard the conversation, let her fingers brush over his for just a moment. She'd tried to hold his hand, to reassure him, but decided against it. He didn't appreciate the touching, but he appreciated the emotion it was supposed to convey.

An old man staggered up to the head of the grave, leaning heavily on a cane and struggling on his decrepit knees to get there. Sasuke recognized him as the pastor of the church they'd gone to when he was young after a long moment of staring. He wore the customary black funeral garb with the white underneath and held a tattered bible nearly as old as he in his hand. Another man brought something like a music stand and set it in front of him, and on that, the pastor sat the bible.

"We are gathered here today," he began, rasping out his words like he was on his last breath, "to lay to rest a cherished father, a loving husband, and a honored member of our community. Officer Fugaku Uchiha is survived by his mother and father, two siblings, his wife and his son."

His son? His singular son? It was a typo, he tried to tell himself, or maybe the old bastard read it wrong. He hoped, he denied that his mother wouldnt have intentionally done that to hurt him. This wasn't fair, there had to be a mistake, she couldn't, she wouldn't just do that, she- Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder. Naruto was standing behind him with a grin brighter than the sun. "It's okay," the blond uttered, trying to keep his voice low. Sasuke nodded as his best friends hand squeezed. It was okay. If it wasn't okay now it would be. He had these three to keep him grounded. It was a typo, he decided.

Sasuke wasn't listening to the pastor anymore. He didn't want to hear an old man who hadn't seen his father in years talk him up like a hero. People weren't good, and they weren't bad. People did good things and they did bad things, some more so than others. In the end, who honestly cared? The dead would always be heroes, they'd always be pure of heart and free of sin. No one ever heard of a funeral where someone stood up and told the truth about the person. His father though, Sasuke mused, had taken his good and bad and made it pretty equal, intentional or not.

He was okay with that.

When the pastor had finished, the casket was lowered, and his mother threw a hand full of dirt in to the grave. Sasuke could feel his eyes starting to water, and trying to blink away the tears wasn't helping. All of the attendees were getting ready to leave, each person stopping to pay respects. With the weather the way it was, there wasn't much time to be standing around chatting.

"Let's go," Sasuke spoke coldly, holding a crack out of his voice. He rubbed his left eye behind the sunglasses. He wanted to leave as quickly as possible. This place was painful, seeing the casket was painful, but knowing his own mother was trying to alienate him was the worst. It wrenched down deep in his gut and throbbed. His shoulders shook from cold and from grief. Leaving was best.

The group turned to leave, Jordan handing him another tissue from her bag as they strode back on to the road. This time he used it. They were halfway back to the car when a pair jogging footsteps caught up to them.

"Excuse me, wait just a moment," it was his brother. When Sasuke turned, he saw he was alone.

"Karin, go warm up the car," Jordan instructed, pulling her keys from her pocket and handing them to the red haired girl. She and Naruto left immediately, the redhead looking back over her shoulder as she strode away. Sasuke could see the people behind his brother still dispersing, and he could see Shisui standing still near the front of his car.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, shoving his hands in to his pockets.

"I need to ask for something," Itachi replied, vaguely.

"What's going on?" Jordan asked, adjusting her sunglasses on her face.

Itachi paused, bowing his head and twisting his fingers in to a knot. Sasuke wasn't sure what was wrong.

"Why don't you go ahead and make your case, and we'll see what we can do for you," Jordan was cold, physically and emotionally, she wanted him to get on with it. He looked up at them and paused for a long while before he got up the courage to speak.

"I am a pacifist. I want to be a lawyer because I want to make people safe, through justice," Itachi began carefully, but his tone quickly changed to reflect his distress. Itachi always spoke in a level sort of tone that was difficult to pick up emotion in, his facial expressions were usually plain too. To see him like this was disturbing.

"But they're calling up my student loans, and mother is such a mess. I-" Itachi stammered. He looked like he was at a loss, more so than just his father. His dull eyes focused down, "My mother found my father laying in the kitchen. She walked around him for a day and a half in a drunken stupor before I came to check on them and called nine-one-one. She needs help. More help than anyone here can offer."

Itachi had put everything out in the open for an all or nothing gamble. After the fight at his mother's house and the foolishness that's gone on today, Sasuke wasn'tsure if they should help him.

"I think I understand. So you want to make a deal with me?" Jordan hummed. She was trying to make him say it explicitly, to force him into making the contract with his own words, his own mouth.

"Please, please, I-" his brother began, words searching. Itachi was under her thumb, he knew it. There was a vague sense of panic to him, his last resort was acting counter to the way he'd thought.

"Hold on, keep your dignity now. Just tell me what it is you want," Jordan grinned, that sinister look making reappearance after such a long time in the overcast dullness.

"I need to finish school. I can pay you back ten fold with my legal services to your company. That is, if that offer is still on the table," Itachi looked defeated. He looked earnestly tired with deep, dark bags under his eyes. His face was starting to wrinkle with stress.

"Jordan," Sasuke found himself opening his mouth in warning to his mentor. He might be letting her rope Itachi in to this, but he wasn't going to watch his brother squirm. His mentor spared him a glance.

"Alright. I'll mail a check," she said very matter of factly, "call me later, tell me how much you need. I'm counting on you returning to work for me. I won't give you an ultimatum," she spared Sasuke another glance, she spared Itachi the pressure, "but nothing good comes of deceiving me."

"I completely understand. Thank you." He was relieved, his hand went to his head and he took a deep breathe. Jordan turned and left, he could hear her heels growing fainter as she strode back the car. Sasuke stood still, looking to make eye contact with his brother, but a Itachi refused.

"You don't know how big of a mistake you just made," he stated, leaning on to his left leg. He narrowed his eyes and waited. Itachi never spoke and he still refused to look up. Sasuke knew he didn't have much of a choice, not when he was in debt worth more than his life. There was no way he could understand the magnitude of what he'd just agreed to.

There was no way out.

Maybe if he was lucky, he'd never have to see Itachi at work. It'd be easy to make that happen, he decided, turning to leave too. He left his brother standing in the cold, he didn't care what happened to him at this point. The car was warm and he was wanted there, at least.

Jordan treated lunch after they left the cemetery. They ate in the front window of a bistro down town, watching as the shop across the street tried and failed to put up their Christmas display. Sasuke was half way through a bowl of tomato risotto when his hands finally thawed out enough to remove his sunglasses he'd perched on top of his head and hand them back to his mentor.

"Keep them," she insisted, munching on half of a sandwich with avocado spread, "they come in handy."

He shrugged, deciding pocket them. He took a drink of his tea, gazing back out the window just in time to watch the bumbling idiots across the street fall off of a ladder and on to the iced side walk. He felt bad for them.

"I guess the snow is sticking," Naruto piped up, using his sleeve to wipe his mouth.

"I wish it wouldnt," Karin huffed around a bite of her own lunch, "I guess a white Christmas would be nice though. What do you guys want this year?"

"I guess a new harness for Kyuubi would be nice, maybe like, uh, I dunno. You usually get it spot on," Naruto elbowed her gently, grinning.

"Oh, cloths probably, shoes," Jordan grinned too, "I already ordered your present."

"I'm excited!" The smile was contagious all of a sudden, because it danced its way onto Karin's face too, "what about you Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up from his meal, eyebrows raised, "oh, nothing."

"I knew you were gonna say that, jerk!" Naruto shouted, Karin was quick to shush him. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Be fun! It's gonna be Christmas!" The blonde insisted, huffing.

"Okay," Sasuke agreed in a condescending tone.

"I'm serious!" Naruto insisted loudly.

"Yes, okay, he gets it Naruto, cut him some slack," Karin hissed.

"We'll surprise him," Jordan sneered, both Uzumaki kids ceased their argument and the grins played there way back on to their faces. That was a good idea.

The waitress brought the check just as the men across the street got their lights plugged in and lit them. The front window if the store had turned out sort of pretty. White lights rimmed the outside while colored lights inside draped over the mannequins. Behind all that they'd hung giant snowflakes, which, were cuter than they were tacky, but only by a small amount. Jordan paid and the group left.

Upon arriving home, Naruto left, claiming he'd forgotten something, and sped off in his dad's electric car. That was okay with Sasuke, because he was exhausted. After changing his cloths, he flopped down on the couch. Karin left for her room to do some online shopping or get on her blog or some such shit and Jordan stayed in the kitchen, talking on a cell phone. He could hear her laughing from the living room.

Nothing was on television. Sasuke hated reality tv and he had no desire to see another movie he'd already watched a thousand times. He was uninterested and unamused. He supposed he could get on his phone, but he didn't like social media and he certainly didn't want to talk to anyone.

He'd flipped though more channels than he thought existed before Jordan joined him. She plopped herself right down next to him on the sofa and got comfortable with a blanket and a smart phone. He thought that one might be her personal phone actually. He eyed her, waiting, and knowing it was impossible for her to just sit down next to him. She wanted to talk or touch him or show him something or take the remote.

He waited. She'd start into something sooner rather than later.

"What are you watching?" She asked. He called it.

"Nothing," he replied, relinquishing hold of the remote.

"Want to rent a movie?" She asked, hitting a button to bring up the pay per view menu. She smiled at him as he handed the remote back, he took it, feeling a little suspicious. What did she want now?

He started flipping again, this time looking though titles he hadn't seen before. He hadn't assumed he was able to do this. His mother would have rose holy hell, but then again, Jordan was not a broke alcoholic. Finally, he settled on an eight dollar action movie and Jordan left momentarily to change her cloths and find them some hot tea. They settled in with a blanket, and outside, Sasuke could see the snow falling thicker, the flakes bigger than he'd seen since he was a kid.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jordan asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"No." Yes.

"Are you sure?" She asked. This time he paused. No one else was here. If he did it wouldn't hurt.

"I was pretty much done with this before we even started," he replied. His mothers betrayal had been worse than loosing his father. He wanted to mourn his father, he wanted to feel bad for the man who'd passed and meant so much to him. He could only think of himself now

"You know, when my dad died, his fourth ex-wife stood up in the middle of the wake and told me that I was a worthless whore. She said I'd cheated when I got all her money. My baby had just died six months earlier, and I was sad, but I didn't feel sad for her and I certainly didn't feel sad for him," she paused to sip her tea, "Whatever your feeling right now is valid, I guess that's my point. Your allowed to feel however you want for whoever you want. Who gives a shit what anyone else thinks, you did what you thought was right."

Sasuke hummed in response.

"Does that help any?" She asked, tilting her head a little.

He nodded, though he wasn't actually sure if it had. Jordan was all about doing whatever she wanted when she wanted, it didn't suprise him that she'd given that sort of advice, but he wasn't sure if he felt the same way about the issue. He'd been doing things a little differently, more out of necessity than want.

"What about Itachi?" He asked, his mind suddenly shifting to his brother. His brother had been shouldering the burden of necessity for far longer than he had.

"What about him?" Jordan asked, scooting closer to him and rearranging the blanket. Sasuke shrugged, mildly irritated with her close presence. He might as well just give up on hoping she'd ever leave him alone.

"He can go get his degree, but he's gonna be a shitty lawyer when he starts out. Konan will mentor him. If he succeeds, then good, if not, he's gone."

Sasuke thought that was fair. That was how big business worked. He'd seen more peaons fired in three months then the company had tenure employees. Hell, if the coffee girl made one mistake a new one would be there to replace her the next morning.

" I think your friends are coming over later," Jordan continued, changing the subject, "I'm going out to dinner with the office, Konan wants to speak with us about something, she said it was unrelated to the charges pressed against her. You're invited."

"Is it gonna be anything like dinner last week?" He asked levely, raising his eyebrows.

Jordan giggled a little, grinning and then she broke out laughing, setting her cup down so she didn't spill it.

"Was it that bad?" She covered her mouth, still laughing. He nodded, cracking a smile himself. "Oh, okay, oh god, that was bad wasn't it?" She took a deep breathe, picking up her tea and trying to get ahold of herself, 'we're going to a bar I think, it's too loud for people to hear us."

A bar? "No thanks."

"Okay," she smiled, "I'm gonna go get ready."

She situated the blanket fully on to his lap and left, walking down the hall and to her bedroom. The movie was half over when she emerged, wearing a white sweater and black pants. He didn't think she owned a pair of jeans. This must have been a pretty causal meeting, because, to his suprise, she wore a pair of black flats instead if heels. She grabbed her purse and was gone after saying goodbye to both her kids.

The movie was over In no time and Sasuke had almost melted in to the couch. He was propped up on two pillows and covered with a blanket, his cat on his legs and his eyes drifting shut. They probably had drifted shut, only for just a minute, when the door bell wrung. Karin's feet thumped on the hardwood floors to answer it, and then familiar voices filled the room. Naruto was here and so was Suigetsu, but he recognized Sakura's voice too and a fourth set of feet with no voice attached to them.

"Hey! Jackass! Wake up!" Naruto shouted, and Fuji rocketed off of his legs to hide from him.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, "let him sleep, he had a long day!"

Sasuke could have groaned.

"Nah," Karin interjected, "he's going with us I think."

"Sasuke! Wake up!" Naruto shouted again, coming closer to him. The charcoal haired boy sat up and rubbed his head, shooting his best friend a dirty look.

"I'm awake you moron."

Sasuke looked past the blonde's smiling face to see the others in the room, Sakura and Suigetsu loomed near the front hall and huddled behind them hiding from sight was Hinata, to his surprise. Karin came out of the hall where the bedrooms were located towing his coat and hers and threw his to him as she passed though to get her purse from the kitchen.

Throwing the blanket off of him and standing up, Sasuke left to get his tennis shoes from his bedroom and when he returned, all three of the girls were bundling up with zipped coats over thick sweaters, and Sasuke figured they were going somewhere cold. He found a scarf and the group left, piling in to Suigetsu's brother's pick up.

The truck cab was cramped. The three girls took up the back seat and let the boys have the much smaller front. Suigetsu drove and Naruto sat in the middle, playing with the radio. It was pitch black outside, but as they got on to the highway it got much brighter as they passed under the street lamps. The ride was over in only a half an hour and all six of them piled out in to the crisp night air at the city zoo. Karin paid for his ticket with Jordan's card, and the group pushed through the ticket booth with relative ease.

The inside of the zoo was decorated with hundreds of strands of Christmas lights. Some entirely blue, some white icicle, many more mixed colored strands with vivid blues, golds and reds. Strands twisted around the park's large oaks, spiraled up evergreens, hung scalloped over fences and decorated the eave-troughs over every building.

It was cool, even he had to admit. Some of the cold hardier animals like the elk and clouded leopard were still out in the enclosures. The other animals that lived in warm places had already been moved for the winter. The first thing Sasuke did was retrieve a map from a kiosk near the front gate. They'd need one, he figured, this place was so big, plus it was dark. He plucked a colorful, folded paper from the basket and walked after the group as they'd already began unguided though the zoo. He tucked the map into his pocket for safekeeping.

The first stop the teenage tour group made was a reptile house. The inside was heated since the creepy crawlies couldn't make their own body heat, and humid too, since most of these creatures liked it moist. They entered though a set of double doors and immediately Karin's glasses fogged.

The walls were lined with cage after glass fronted cage full of lizards, turtles, a few insects and snakes. Karin loudly voiced her opinion about disliking snakes, but Sasuke had always found them interesting. He liked animals. In the middle of the exhibit room, a large crocodile sunned himself outside his shallow, indoor pond, pulling Suigetsu's attention immediately. With the rest of the group trailing after him, Sasuke was free to look at other things.

He found himself standing next to a slow moving chameleon staring down a woman holding a corn snake. He watched a few kids go up to pet it and she let them, holding the skinny creature carefully in both hands. He sort of wanted to pet it too, or at least get a closer look, but he also didn't want to speak with her.

"Hey," a voice from the left pulled him back to the real world. It was Sakura.

"I've never touched a snake before, would you go with me?" She smiled, gazing up at his apathetic expression. "I'm kinda scared."

"Sure," he agreed. He let her lead the way.

"Hi," greeted the zoo keeper with a smile, "have you ever felt a snake before?"

Sakura shook her head shyly and he didn't respond.

"Oh! Well alright! Her name is Mimi, she's a Candy Cane corn snake. You can go ahead and touch her, she's our special guest for tonight," the lady smiled, offering the two and a half foot long snake out for the teenagers to pet. Sakura looked back at him, unsure if she should. Sasuke would have sighed if it wouldnt made him seem rude. Instead he reached out two fingers and pushed them against the smooth scales of the snake.

"Is she slimy?!" Sakura gushed.

"No," Sasuke replied, retracting his hand. Sakura looked from the snake to him and back to the snake before she bravely stuck out one finger and touched the snake, holding it in one place.

"She soft," Sakura remarked, much calmer, and began running her finger down the snakes back as the woman started spouting off snake facts. Sasuke wasn't sure what he expected.

The group left the reptile house and proceeded to the next exhibit, directly to the right of the doors. High up in the snow covered, human built rock tower sat a snow leopard. The nocturnal cat had spent his entire day asleep out of sight, but the very rare and elusive creature was sitting up, looking out over his enclosure. It was dark, but a few lights radiated nearby. The creature was almost entirely cast in shadows, but Sasuke could see a portion of a back leg and tail that shone a light grey and was dotted beautify with groups of black dots and stripes.

"This says that snow leopards are an endangered species," Karin read from an informative plaque nearby, adjusting her glasses in the dim lighting.

"Big deal," Suigetsu said, quickly passing her off and folding his hands behind his head, clearly not impressed, "some big, over grown house cat. Right, Sasuke? Fuji could do more damage than that guy."

Sasuke watched the big cat for a moment before responding, "it's prettier than you, is that why your insulted?"

Naruto burst out laughing like air from a ballon. It wasn't that funny, but spontaneously boisterous laughter was just one of his things. Sasuke smirked, the girls snickered. The tour group moved on.

"That was a good one though, almost as good as the jell you use to get your hair like that," Suigetsu shot back, Sasuke shrugged, sending Naruto in to another fit of laughter as they arrived at the otter viewing area down winding paths of lights.

There was a family group of five river otters. According to a sign nearby, the family was made up of a mother, a father, and three pups from last year. The easily excitable Naruto rushed up to the glass looking in to the otter's pond just as two of them rushed by, swirling and flipping as they passed. The look on Naruto's face was priceless. These were obviously his favorite animal.

"Look at them, Hinata!" He shouted, pressing his face to the glass. Hinata, the shy thing she was, stood off to the side. "

I see them," she smiled, "they're cute."

"Come closer!" He insisted, realizing she was so far away, and drug her closer to the glass. She blushed all the way. Sakura joined them, but at a distance.

Looking at them from afar, Sasuke realized that this was a date for Naruto and Hinata, disguised as a group outing. Probably to avoid akward mess or something, it was a pretty good idea. Suigetsu and Karin flanked him, watching the other three, all six of the teenagers enjoying themselves.

What an odd thing, enjoying himself on the day of his father's funeral. There wasn't another group of people he'd rather spend his time with, he realized, shoving his hands in to his pockets.

"I wanna see the eagle owl," he spoke. Heads turned to look at him, but no one said a word, the group just slowly migrated that way.

The Eurasian Eagle Owl didn't look like a mix between an eagle and an owl, it just looked like a regular brown owl with some interesting tufts of feathers over its eyes. Very noticeable tufts of feathers.

"It looks like bushy brows!" Naruto blurted, flying in to another quick fit of laughter. Sasuke smirked. It sorta did.

"Who?" Suigetsu asked.

"Rock lee," Sakura answered, and then she stiffened, "did you just?"

Suigetsu smirked, flashing his teeth. The group collectively groaned, except for Naruto, who laughed harder.

"That's the worst joke you've made all night!" Karin said in an accusing tone. Suigetsu shrugged.

Naruto's laughter died down and he got distracted off somewhere with his phone, pulling Hinata along with him to take pictures. Sasuke wasn't much listening to anyone else in the group. He was much more interested in the owl, perched not too high on a tree. He'd take a picture if it wasn't so dark. It was beautiful, regal even.

"I didn't know you liked birds," Sakura spoke gently, her voice distracting him. He hummed in response.

"I like animals." "I'll have to come see your cats sometime," she smiled. He didn't know about that.

"Are you feeling any better, Sasuke?" Karin asked, quickly changing the subject. He nodded, and it wasn't a lie this time. He was having fun. He still thought about today, but he was having fun. These people genuinely cared about him. They weren't here to manipulate him or antagonize him, they wouldn't abuse his trust. They wouldn't hurt him.

He thought briefly back to his high school days, and growing up. He'd slats been sort of a longer, always by choice. He pushed other people away. It didn't matter how hard he pushed, his friends were here to stay.

When the zoo closed down, the group cleared out, plenty tired themselves. Suigetsu was a fairly steady driver the way home though, so Sasuke wasn't worried as he nodded off. Karin shook him awake when they arrived home, and they got out on the sidewalk in front of the house. The driveway looked like a sports car dealership.

"What the fresh hell is going on here?" Karin muttered, pulling her cost closed tighter. When they entered the house though the garage, they entered in to a warmly lit kitchen with take out boxes of every kind piled high next to an armful of liquor bottles.

All of the executive were present. Konan sat at a bar stood near the island, a cup off black coffee in one hand and her head in another, strung out over a mass of papers and folders. Kakuzu was drinking a large cup of scotch by the looks of it, facing away from the group with a hardened, angry look on his face, his shirt mussed and his blazer slung on the floor. Kakashi, still lerfectly dressed, carried in a box of papers, set it down, and left to get another, ignoring their presence. Nagato, his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his black undershirt and belt long gone, held a tablet, his eye brows furrowed and puzzling over something.

Jordan was in the kitchen too, her hair slung up messily and her shoes dangling from her left hand, eating a taco salad out of a styrofoam take out box with her right, but instead if a fork she held a large bottle of Cristal Champagne to her lips. The bottle was almost as tall as her head and she drunk from the mouth of the dark colored glass. When she saw them out of the corner of her eye, she nearly spat out the expensive liquid, leaning and hunching over and sputtering a choke as she sat the bottle down and rushed to meet them.

"Oh, hi you guys!" She spoke mostly normally, hugging Karin and squeezing her tightly. "Did you have fun? How was it?"

"Fine," Karin grinned, but then her eyes glanced sideways, "what's going on? It's, like, midnight."

"Oh! Oh nothing, oh, shit, you know it's something. Don't worry about it. How are you? What was it like?" Jordan's rapid fire words cane faster than usual, a sign she was anxious. Her words didn't slur but he could see her tongue beginning to getting tied. Karin didn't answer. Jordan's smile cracked at the edges and she quickly turned away to hug Sasuke.

"How are you? Did you have fun?" She grimaced as she hugged him, turning her face away so the alcohol wouldnt sting his skin, "oh, shit, I'm sorry. I won't breathe on you. I'm sorry, I know you hate it."

"Are you guys hungry?" Jordan fallowed up quickly, swaying away back to her forgotten meal and bottle. "We've got a ton of food. The Chinese delivery man almost got in a fight with the guy delivering pizza, it was pretty funny."

Sasuke's eyes flicked back to Karin. She looked stricken and nervous, but her mouth never moved. He remembered very suddenly that she had once been Jordan's apprentice, just as he was. She'd quit because of the mounting stress threatening to break him, and he wondered now if she was going to ask what was happening or if he would have to. She might not concern herself with it.

"What's going on?" She asked again, surprising him. Jordan took a long swig of the champagne before she answered.

"We're being sued. It's a company wide lawsuit." She spoke like it was painful to admit it. "Fraud in the enumerable counts, conspiracy to commit fraud, falsifying information submitted to the government, and one count of insider trading."

"What?" That was Sasuke's own voice, he'd spoken without even thinking.

"Mm," Jordan hummed as she took another swig. Somewhere in the other room Kakuzu coughed and the ice in his drink rattled. "They're charging the company as an entity and not as individuals. Thank god."

"How?" He asked, too shocked to even remove his shoes as he crossed the kitchen to her.

Jordan rose a salad covered fork to her lips and chewed while she thought of what to say. "The day we went to your moms, when Kakuzu told us to stay away from the office, they took a bunch of stuff to charge Konan, but in the process they stated to see things weren't adding up."

"It was an audit," Kakuzu chimed in, but his tone was farm from bell like. "The evidence they collected was audited while in their possession. All thanks to one fucking pay stub that one fucking idiot forgot to change!" Kakuzu threw his menacing gaze at Kakashi as he re-entered the room. The grey haired man scowled but largely ignored him. What did this all happen in secret?

Sasuke wondered why was he never around when people fucked things up. His jaw hung a little slack.

"That was finances job to remind filing," Nagato hissed, scowling too. Kakuzu looked downright murderous.

"We are not fighting about this," Konan reminded them in that even tone she always used. The men didn't speak another word to each other.

"Anyway, I think I can get some of the charges dropped, but we're still looking at millions of dollars in fines. Not to mention.. Well, never mind." Konan slumped further over her work and Nagato scooted a little closer to comfort her. Things apparently weren't going well.

"You two wanna grab a chair?" Jordan spoke, finishing off her bottle, "this is probably gonna be an all nighter."

* * *

Happy holidays everybody! Sorry for such a late update, let me know what you think about this chapter. Anything you like or disliked?


	14. Chapter 14: Be The Lawyer

Despite the company being charged with so much, the legal system was slow. After a single night of worry, work resumed as usual the very next Monday.

The crowd of reporters in the lobby had grown, and now it was out the front door. Cameras flashed as the car pulled into the parking lot, and security escorted Jordan and himself upstairs. It wasn't pleasant to walk through a funnel of people screaming at him and cameras flashing. Security walked in a postage stamp fashion around them, and he and Jordan walked abreast, together in what felt like an unshakable wall moving foreword. Things were going badly, no one had to tell him that.

The elevator stopped at Nagato's floor, the hallway stretching out before them like it was swallow them whole. They both faced the door until that moment, unspeaking, both clad in dark sunglasses and black blazers.

Jordan turn to him, smiling, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Just go up stairs and make the best of today. You can't call me anymore, so I hope you'll be okay alone." The phones were tapped. He'd seen a warrant for that.

"Couldn't I stay here with you?" He asked, turning his head and looking her way.

"No," she replied, to which he asked,

"Why?"

She pressed the close button on the elevator doors, in preparation to speak but she never opened her mouth.

"I want to do everything I can," he expressed as the doors clicked shut. She'd picked him up when he was nothing, he couldn't abandon her now he was on top. He'd be nothing without her. It would hurt him to say it out loud, but he was quite attached.

"Sasuke, you need to stay as far away from all of this as you can," Jordan said factually. He could see her eyebrows were raised by the tautness of her forehead even if he couldn't actually see her eyebrows behind her sunglasses.

"I'm already in trouble, everyone is," he pointed out.

She laughed at him. Her smile cracked at the seams, growing wider and more wicked. "I suppose."

They regarded each other, his empty expression as constant as hers.

Her hand moved very slowly, from his shoulder to his cheek, her fingers ghosting the fringe of his bangs and her warm palm resting on his skin. He let her close the distance between them, and place a kiss that was only half unwanted on his lips. With the other half, he returned her kiss. He rose a hand to rest it on the taller woman's shoulder, his free hand moving to rest on her hip.

Her lips were soft and he could smell her perfume. It smelled like peonies, he realized, after being around it so long but never really smelling it, and the scent filled his senses as his mouth worked against hers. She moved so slowly, her open mouth closing, pressing herself to him, and then her lips were gone with a soft, wet, sucking sound, followed by another kiss. When she drew her lips away finally, she lingered, placing a kiss on his neck. She hovered there, right above the spot she kissed, right below his ear.

"I'm so sorry Sasuke," she whispered, "I'm so sorry I took your virginity. I should have known when it went too far."

"But you're still here," he remarked, "and your still kissing me, and I don't give a shit about my virginity."

"Is that what's important?" She asked, "that I'm here?"

"That's very important." He replied. He wholly expected her to kiss him again, or give him a hickey right there at work, but instead, her arms moved and the tall woman embraced him in a tight hug. So he'd slept with her for the wrong reason, it didn't mean he had to regret it. Though he certainly wouldn't do it again.

He stuck close to her as they wandered down the hall and stopped every few meters to input another pass code. He noticed the number order had changed, it was no longer her birthday, but instead it was Kakuzu's, August fifteenth. The print scanner on the final number locked door took her thumb without argument, and finally they breached the final stretch of hallway. They were in Nagato's office within a small number of steps.

"I was beginning to think you two were gonna suck face in that elevator all morning," the redheaded man spoke, stifling a cough with his thin fingers. Sasuke could see him only by the glow of the four computer monitors mounted to the wall, glowing to illumine that side of the room.

"Yeah, yeah," Jordan huffed, shutting the door behind them, "you violated the no work relationships rule first."

"True," he shrugged, spinning his chair around to face Jordan as she crossed the room, "does Kakuzu know?"

Jordan huffed again, shooting him a dirty look as she cleared off a chair nearby the one she'd claimed. This office was an unruly mess, stacks of papers all over, burying printers and consuming every filing cabinet in sight and the floor under his feet. Pens, pencils, staplers and all other means of office supplies covered every inch the paper didn't occupy, like a real life I-spy book. Sasuke unbuttoned his blazer. It was a bit hot in here with the computer equipment running in such a small space.

"Alrighty Sasuke," Jordan spoke, pulling a deck of cards from a pile of junk and used coffee mugs, "what are we playing first? Poker? Or Texas hold 'em?"

She tossed him the deck and sat down.

"This is what you guys do all day?" He asked, almost in disbelief.

"We used to do productive things," Nagato noted, "but pretty much since Konan first thought there was a possibility of us getting in trouble, say, two weeks ago, it's card games and watching security cameras."

"You wouldnt believe what your secretary does when no one's looking," Jordan smirked.

Sasuke didn't want to know.

"We should have gotten coffee, shouldn't we of?" Jordan suggested as Sasuke tossed the cards back her way. She caught them and put them back on the table behind her.

"Yeah, and brought me some too," the red haired man offered, swiveling his chair around back to his monitor.

"What would you like?" Sasuke asked, looking at Jordan and only Jordan, "text it to me exactly, I'll go get it for you."

"Would you really?" his mentor grinned, looking sort of coy. She'd taken her sunglasses off and had one of the bows resting on her lip, almost like she was pouting. He nodded.

"And would you hurry? Jordans' quite thirsty and I don't mean for coffee," Nagato said loud enough to attract their attention this time. He was jesting, "I can't believe you two both outrank me."

"You're just jealous," Jordan's grin morphed into a smirk, kicking back in her chair.

"I have a girlfriend, how can I be jealous?" Nagato turned his head to give his boss a look that was best described as 'what the fuck?'

"Obviously we're much better looking than you and Konan," Jordan snarked.

"Your older than my girlfriend Jordan, and Sasuke is much younger than I am. That sounds like a lot of fumbling around in the dark. With wrinkles."

Jordan's head cocked to one side and she gasped, sitting up stiffly in her seat and her hands flopping to her lap. She was outraged! She did not have wrinkles! Sasuke could see she was about to go off, the joke gone a little too far, but it was Sasuke's turn to smirk. He had Nagato right where he wanted him.

"What can I say?" Sasuke shrugged, "I like my girls a little bit older." Nagato paled, Jordan nearly split a seam laughing. Got him.

So Sasuke went and got coffee and came back, and the three of them laughed and hung around, sometimes with Kakashi, for weeks and weeks. Not a one of them bothered to mention the law suite. Sometimes, he forgot completely that his father was dead and that his mother was at what used to be his home, drunk, alone.

Three weeks brought Christmas. Jordan had an immaculate eight foot, pre lit Christmas tree with six setting and on a spinning stand. It was about six foot wide and it actually looked real at first glance with its ultra realistic branches. The lights twinkled brightly and with a press if a button on the cord used to plug it in, the color or pattern of the lights could be changed. Kakuzu came over and drank scotch as he, Karin and Jordan decorated it with no less than a two hundred ornaments. Even when they were all on Sasuke could see spots where they needed more.

Christmas was good this year. He'd had times in childhood where it'd been great, and other times not so much. This year was shaping up to be great, besides the whole shopping for presents at the mall thing. He had Naruto figured out from the beginning. A pair of bright orange Vans type shoe, and a copy of that movie they'd seen together a while back. Karin came after that, and it took some deciding, but eventually he picked her up some cute stuff for her rabbit and some clothing he thought she might like from a store she favored. Suigetsu was a little harder, and Sasuke ended up purchasing him one of those obnoxious two wheeled segway looking things, the ones that were all the rage right now and getting recalls for spontaneous combustion. Juugo was also sort of hard to buy for, but he was a simple person, so Sasuke thought a simple gift was in order. A sweater that was big enough Sasuke was sure it would fit.

Kakuzu got scotch. Jordan bought it for him when she bought the scotch she was giving him.

Rich people, Sasuke decided, like thoughtful things. They already had the money to get whatever it is they wanted, but the thought behind the gift was what made Christmas. Jordan, as he suspected, was the hardest to buy for. He didn't even actually know what she liked besides big business and roses. She was classy in a hard edged sort of way, and he wasn't going to be caught dead giving her jewelry. Just because they were involved didn't mean she was his girlfriend. There was a certain intimacy about jewelry Sasuke didn't like.

Actually, there was a certain intimacy about Christmas he didn't like, but he couldn't just not participate.

Sasuke had been wandering around the mall for close to two hours when he finally decided he was just going to say fuck it, buy her a necklace, and call it a day. Then he realized, passing by an entertainment store, that Jordan just loved rap music. The lady at the counter didn't question him when he bought seven CDs with some of the most muscular, jewelry clad men in history on the cover.

Christmas was a week after his mall trip. They opened presents, drank hot chocolate, and chilled out until Kakuzu got to the house.

As soon as the accountant arrived, they started on Christmas dinner. For the second time in a few months, Sasuke saw Jordan cook. Karin was on her right hand assisting her the whole time and somehow Kakuzu had weaseled his way into the kitchen and he was the one making the ham.

Sasuke was perfectly okay with sucking on a candy cane in the living room. There was an awful lot of arguing going on in there with three hot heads within arms length of each other.

Dinner was served at the formal dining table which they almost never used. Jordan had a linen tablecloth and she broke out the good China. The other set with roses on it.

Later that night, Karin took off to Naruto's. Her parents were supposed to be there and she hadn't seen them in some time. This house was her first home, but her blood family was a close second, and something about blood was important to Karin. He wondered, sitting on the couch with Jordan and Kakuzu watching a not so stale Christmas movie from the forties, whatever reason his mother did what she did, had it been worth this? He supposed he should call, but even with his cell in his pocket, his hand never moved. He didn't call his brother either, or his grandparents, and he certainly wasn't able to call his father as much as he would have valued one last Christmas with him.

This was okay though.

Kakuzu wasn't snapping at him and Jordan managed to keep her hands to herself. He'd received so many text messages of well wishes from his group of friends and Karin had been particularly pleasant today even if she was gone now.

Yeah, he decided, this was pretty okay.

He went to sleep that night and when he woke up the next morning, there was no hangover arguing or overdue bills on the counter, just Jordan and Kakuzu on the couch and Karin making Canadian bacon in the kitchen.

Paradise couldn't last forever. It was tragic, really, for such a holiday to end the way it did with a court trial the week after Christmas. Konan's trial to be exact.

He got up that Thursday morning and pulled on a t-shirt he'd received from Karin and a pair of slacks. He'd wear the coat Jordan had got for him over the shirt, which boasted a popular alternative rock band he liked, and he'd be set to go. He supposed he didn't look too casual, but not too dressy either. He hoped Jordan wouldn't say anything.

When he walked out into the living room, she didn't say anything, just looked up from a bag she was rummaging around in and gave him a funny look. The tree was still up, still glittering reds and golds, and a package of New Year's party poppers had made their way on to the otherwise clean coffee table. It was a quiet morning, Jordan had given the company in its entirety Christmas Eve through January first off.

"Are you ready?" She asked. She herself was dressed as if she was going to a fashion show, wearing a black tunic that hugged her thin shape and a thick woolen jacket that hung past her hips. This Christmas had been the year of the winter coat. After they'd both climbed in to the car and Jordan was busy on the throttle, Sasuke noticed she had a different pair of sunglasses than her usual old reliables. They were white, he'd never seen her with white sunglasses on before.

Sasuke had been to the courthouse once on a field trip in the third grade. There hadn't been any rough criminals or arguing in the halls, just an empty room where a judge had come and talked to his class about laws and things, it was so long ago Sasuke couldn't remember the specifics, but he did remember that this was nothing like that. A baby cried somewhere and police escorted people in handcuffs too and from rooms. Lawyers bitched on the phone while interns hurried after them with paperwork. Sasuke very near got run over a few times. Jordan towed him along, near running into people herself.

When they entered the courtroom, the room was near empty, save for the other office executives, save Kakashi. Jordan sat next to Kakuzu, allowing him to take the end of the bench. They'd entered as a man began speaking, giving a preface of the trial's working for the jury but now it lulled, the room quiet save for some shuffling bodies and papers.

From a door on the left side of the room, Konan entered, unshackled and dignified. Behind her followed a bailiff and another man.

"That's Jiraya?" Jordan asked. Sasuke wasn't sure if the surprise in her voice was sincere.

"That's him," Nagato confirmed.

Sasuke's best guess was that the old man currently seating himself with Konan at the defendant's table was Konan's legal council. He was broad shouldered and white haired, and from the short glimpse Sasuke had seen of his face, he looked to be about sixty. He slumped over the table, quickly pouring himself a glass of water before the prosecution had entered the room.

The prosecutor brought up the back of the pack, stood facing the already seated judge and began speaking.

"In the case of The State verses Konan Minami, charged with one count of obstruction of justice, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Konan droned, looking particularly uninterested. Sasuke observed her from behind, she certainly didn't look worried.

"Precede with opening statements," the judge barked.

Konan stood up, smoothed out her skirt and strode over to the jury.

"My name is Konan Minami, I'm thirty five years old, and my favorite food is pizza," she smiled softly, her lips upturning as she folded her hands over one another, keeping them down near her sides and trying to be polite. "I'm a regular person just like you, except for I'm a lawyer. I go to work and do my job just like everyone else. I'm just average. Just about the only thing not so average about me though, is I work for a very large company. The prosecution is trying to paint a deviant picture of the company and myself, trying to say that I have wronged in some way, but all of us sitting here know it's a farce. All of us know that our court systems are not perfect, and I plan on proving my innocence to every person sitting here today. Thank you."

As Konan left the jury, the prosecutor stood up and took her place.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he began, in his strict sounding voice, pushing his glasses up on to the bridge of his nose, "the woman sitting before you is, to use her words, a deviant. She's lied, cheated, covered up, fudged, dodged, evaded and downright falsified information on legal documents and documents within her company to keep big business in the green. Justice is as justice is due, and justice for her is long overdue."

And with that, the nerdy looking prosecutor left the galley and sat down at his table. The case continued with the judges booming voice.

"The defense has the first move."

"Your honor," Konan began, "the defense calls Kakashi Hatake to the stand."

There was some more shuffling, and some pretentious dirty looks thrown, and Kakashi walked through the door to the left, the one Konan had come through, looking stone faced and annoyed. Sasuke couldn't imagine the headache he must have.

"Kakashi Hatake, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do."

"Party is sworn in, proceed."

Konan began immediately, in a brisk tone. "Mr. Hatake, do you know who I am?"

"Yes," he answered, and that was all he said. Konan had no doubt coached him.

"Where do you know me from?"' The lawyer followed up.

"You are the legal head of the company I am currently employed under," Kakashi replied, trying to keep as factual and vague as possible.

"And what sort of thing do you do there?" She continued her questioning.

"I'm head of filing. I organize paperwork," Kakashi was calm. Sasuke watched him closely.

Konan took her eyes off of him, glancing to the jury before she spoke again. "I see, and do you recall what happened on the morning of Friday, November nineteenth?"

"If I'm correct, the was the morning you were arrested and the police stormed my office and tore it apart," Sasuke could see the grey haired man's neck strain. Okay. He wasn't as calm as he appeared with that pale, stoney expression.

"Your correct," Konan confirmed, "I was arrested that morning. Could you tell the court what all they took that day when they destroyed your office?"

He judge looked downright board, the bailiff looked like he had left the land of the living, and Sasuke was pretty close to joining him. Jordan's face was hard and her brows furrowed, He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but he followed her gaze back to the action. Tv had lied, court trials were not in fact full of drama. They were drawn out and full of strategic pissing contests. So, not totally unlike work. The only one in the room not completely void of emotion was the prosecutor, who looked downright bitter. Kakashi cleared his throat before he answered.

"They had a warrant for several hundred of my files. Mostly legal documents but a few pay stubs and other miscellaneous documents."

"Okay, we're only concerned about the legal documents here today though," Konan suddenly looked and sounded very interested, drawing attention to her witnesses words, "What sort of legal files were taken?"

Kakashi was silent for a long time, thinking either about what to say or which documents were taken. "They took some documents filed just before and just after the company was investigated for stock manipulation on… Well, I don't remember when, it was earlier this year."

"Charges that were in fact dropped, were they not? Of reasons of insufficient evidence?" Konan raised her eyebrows very, very high. Sasuke took notice.

"They were," he agreed.

Konan took a few steps in the direction of the jury, facing between them and Kakashi, pulling more attention to herself this time, because now it was her words that mattered. Her voice projected. "And do you have any reason to believe that an investigation that dropped its charges because of insufficient evidence has any viable implications to this case? Supposing that the evidence collected only proved the company's innocence? Which it did, by the way."

Kakashi's voice was quiet. "No, I don't."

"No further questions," Konan grinning, her heels clicking on the hard floors as she took her seat next to Jiraya. She took a few seconds to adjust her tight bun on her head and take a drink of bottled water as the prosecutor stepped up. The weasley man's own shoes clicked on the floor as he strode towards Kakashi was big steps, a scowl set of his features and his hands held a packet of papers.

The prosecutor began in a strong, booming voice, one that made Sasuke grimace. Loud did not pair well with his voice.

"Our issue today is the problem of fraud and obstruction of justice, not stock manipulation. Is it not?"

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow as the man moved to tower over him. It would take more to shake him.

"Well I suppose it is," Kakashi said, very matter of factly.

"Well, the way it seems to me," the prosecutor began, still trying to seem oh so holier than thee, "the defense would like us to believe that just because the company was found innocent on one charge, that they're innocent all around, including Miss Minami, is that how it sounds to you?"

That statement took Kakashi off guard. Sasuke saw the man's eyes widen, if only just a little.

Within the span of a second, Sasuke's brain rushed. Kakashi, who was oh so very loyal, was not under oath. If he lied, he'd be in trouble, not because his opinion of the statement would be wrong, but because his testimony would be worthless after the rapid fire questions Sasuke was sure the prosecutor had. This man was going to destroy Kakashi's credibility either way.

"Objection!" Konan shouted, standing up.

The judge sighed, pinched his temple and barked, "Sustained. Jury will disregard," before anyone could so much as breath. Sasuke knew they wouldn't. They'd already heard what the prosecutor had said, and even though some might, there would be no way of knowing if all on the jury had forgotten the statement.

The prosecutor grinned, in a completely counter way that Jordan did. It was almost scary.

"The prosecution would like to draw attention to exhibit number one," he said, holding up the packet of files over his head. He walked in a very slow, small circle as he continued speaking, showing off his evidence, "one of the files taken from your office, Mr. Hatake. Legal document One-eighty four. Id like to read the first line from it." He cleared his throat, "KMA Corp. in regards to a lawsuit number five forty seven, regarding stock manipulation, reads as followed, 'filed motion, complaint against the court for a biased bailiff.' Can you tell me possibly why this document might end up in your filing room?"

His circle ended back at the stand, again towering over the seated Kakashi.

Kakashi readjusted himself in his seat and he too cleared his throat. "We file everything. It creates a paper trail, for the IRS, you know, they like those."

"Really?" The prosecutor mocked, "Because it seems to me that if you've got this all on file, it'd be easy to keep your story straight, say, if you were to lie?"

"Objection! Badgering!" Konan shouted again.

"Overruled," the judge groaned, "continue. Answer the question."

Worry edged onto Kakashi's face. He tilted his head back just a bit, and swallowed thickly. He kept his eyes on the prosecutor, who stared him down like a hawk.

"Well… I suppose. But what reason would we have to lie?"

"Well, I'm not really sure," the prosecutor chitted, his voice quieting suddenly, and his gaze directed down on the floor. "You see, I can't quite figure this so called paper trail out. You've got everything recorded, sometimes in triplicate, but on the majority of these papers, there's these big, black, marker spots, blacking out words."

The look of horror didn't get a chance to cross Kakashi's face as the shrew of a man looked back up at him, his own eyebrows raised in a questioning sort of expression. Sasuke saw the look on Kakashi's face start to bubble, but it never made it to the surface.

"Objection! Your honor, who is on trial here?" Konan shouted once more, shooting straight up and nearly tipping her chair in the process.

The judges hand fell from his face with a definite thump on to his desk and he rolled his eyes, huffing as he spoke. "We know who's on trial here, please sit down. Prosecution, please move on."

"Alright, alright. One last question," he said, his lips pursed and hands up in mock surrender, "Why do you suppose the defendant would file such a motion? Why would it matter if the bailiff is bias?"

"I don't know," Kakashi answered quickly.

"Do you suppose, I don't know, to stall a trial to cover something else up?"

"Objection!" Jiraya shouted this time.

Before the judge could speak, the prosecutor strode away from the stand, quickly spitting out the words "Nothing further," and seated himself.

Jiraya stood up and spoke for a second time, his long, white hair falling over his shoulder to hang straight on his back. "The defense calls to the stand Konan Minami."

Jordan almost immediately shot out of her seat, her hands on the bench in front of them with a full intent to go up and over if it hadn't been for Kakuzu. The older man's hand slapped across her chest and pushed her back down in her seat. The scuffle attracted a few glances, but whoever looked their way glued their eyes right back to Konan who stride to the front of the room. Jordan threw Kakuzu a death glare and he returned it.

"Calm. Down," the older man growled.

"Fuck you!" She said, trying to keep her voice in a low snarl.

"Get ahold of yourself!" Kakuzu exclaimed, failing to keep his voice low enough not to be heard, earning some questionable glances from other courtroom goers, "You can not fall apart on us now. We've worked too hard for too long."

"Fuck you, you hot headed son of a bitch," she coiled like a cobra, hissing her threat with venom from every syllable.

"Not to interrupt," Nagato spoke levely, "but we are in a courtroom."

Back in the land of the trial, Konan was already sworn in, and Jiraya was getting up to question her.

Sasuke watched Jordan shake her head, brushing her dark hair out of her face and pulling her sunglasses off to pin them to her shirt using the bow. He watched her rub her bloodshot eyes, running her hand down her face and sighing heavily. He noticed the heavy bags under her eyes, too dark for even her powdered makeup to cover. She didn't look like she'd slept in two, maybe three days. It was disturbing.

She looked over at him, her smile gone and expression empty, and then looked back to the trail in front of them. Sasuke looked back too.

The white haired lawyer was seating himself, and he did not look happy. Jiraya looked troubled as he sat turned so Sasuke could no longer see his face and sat down.

"No questions," said the prosecutor, flipping through some papers on the table top. The bailiff let Konan down quietly, and she took her seat.

"However," the man spoke again, "the prosecution would like to present articles of evidence two through five, beginning with number two."

The shrew of a man stood up, carrying an armload of papers with him. He plucked one off of the top, held it up, and tucked the others into the crook of his elbow. "Exhibit number one, three incorrectly filled out court motions. Exhibit number two, a personal email from the defendant's dumped personal computer files."

The prosecutor took the page he had in his hand, which was actually a paper clipped stack of other papers, and made a motion with his hand, fanning the pages out so the volume could be viewed by the jury.

"All of these were legally obtained and are usable in court. The first three were obtained with a warrant for the defendant's company building and the last was obtained in a different warrant for her personal items. I think it's time to put a nail in this coffin, don't you?" He cleared his throat, and drug out a single sheet of paper from the pile and held it up. "I'll take the liberty of reading this out loud."

Jiraya made a move to stand, his body shifting foreword for his balance and his chair scratched on the floor, but the cyan haired woman extended a hand in his direction. Sasuke watched him glance down at her hand, and then back at her with a look of confusion, and then acceptance. Jiraya turned to face the judge. Konan never moved her head, so her face was unreadable, but he imagined it was glazed with a hardened look of frustration and fear.

"To, NKamiko, the email address of the defendant's significant other, from KMinsmi. 'I will be able to jam them up and bury them in so much paperwork, they'll be too busy looking for their asses to really see what's going on here. Don't worry, have a good day.' Now, this is number twenty two in a chain of emails, but when the computer dumped, this was the only one that had not been deleted."

"The one time you get sloppy, Miss Minami, it damns you. That's law. Evidence numbers two through four are three incorrectly filed court motions, as I said before. The jury isn't stupid, they can see what's going on here," he was talking to Konan now, he wasn't facing her but the tense he used implied it, "the jury can see that though filing motions and backing up the trial is not illegal, but this was done to the courts deliberately, in attempt to stall the process so the company could cover their behinds. Obstruction of justice is defined as 'any attempt to hinder the discovery, apprehension, conviction or punishment of anyone who has committed a crime by means of bribery, murder, intimidation, and the use of physical force against witnesses, law enforcement officers or court officials.'"

He rose his eyebrows with a condescending smile, "now if this email isn't proof of intimidating the court system, I don't know what is."

"Nagato, what's she doing? Why isn't she doing anything?" Jordan barked, her head snapping to the right to stare the red headed man down. "Nagato, she's got to do something quick, this guy is murdering her."

The trial continued in front of him, but Sasuke's focus shifted to the woman next to him.

Her face was red and angry, her eyebrows pinned down and her face taunt. "Nagato!"

"She's giving up, Jordan," the redhead said quietly, his gaze cast and unwavering on his girlfriend.

"No, no, no, no! She can't just-just- just- give up!" The CEO stuttered, balking and stammering, panicked and the forced cool she always carried gone. Kakuzu put his head in his hands.

"Please-" Nagato tried, but she refused to relent.

"She can't just give up and lay down and take it!"

"Please Jordan," he pressed, quiet still but loud enough to project over her," I'll pay whatever fine we get as back last from this, personally, just let it go."

"It's not about the money it's-" Jordan spat, but the judge's booming voice pulled the attention of everyone in the room.

"The jury will now exit the room and return with a verdict."

It was over.

It was all over for Konan and Sasuke knew it.

There was no way in hell's half acre that she'd created enough reasonable doubt for them to find her innocent, not with that email. Sasuke knew it didn't hinge on whatever the company did, it only mattered if Konan covered it up.

She had.

He knew it, nobody had to tell him despite having no prior knowledge.

The jury knew it too. It only took them ten minutes to return to the courtroom, counting the time to walk to and from the separate room used to decide.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"I can't watch this," Jordan muttered.

A spindly legged woman around sixty stood, brushing her greying hair behind her ear and clearing her throat before she spoke." We have your honor. We find the defendant, Konan Minami, guilty."

Jordan was out of her seat, storming from the room within seconds of the delivery. She look foreward, and away from him as she strode past quickly. Sasuke wasn't even sure who it was passing him until he saw her purse pass by his nose.

"The court thanks the jury for their service," said the judge, heaving a tired sigh, "We will proceed next week to sentencing. Adjourned."

Konan stood up immediately, and somehow Nagato was at her side, hugging her over the railing separating the floor from the audience. Jiraya patted the woman on the back, smiling sadly and Sasuke thought he saw him mouth "you did good, kid" to one of the lovers. The bailiff approached and Konan willingly put her arms behind her back.

"I'll meet you at the prison, I'll be right there love, I'll be right there," Nagato promised, rubbing his right eye to prevent any more tears from flowing down his cheeks. Konan could only nod, biting back tears of her own. Nagato lit out of the room like his feet were on fire before Konan had even been handcuffed.

"Hey, kid," Kakuzu's deep, rumbling voice grabbed his attention.

Sasuke turned his head, acknowledging him.

Kakuzu heaved a heavy sigh and continued speaking, looking pretty worn down himself. "Let's go."

Sasuke nodded and they both stood up, Sasuke led the way outside.

When they descended the steps of the courthouse, Jordan was sitting in her car, her hand out the window and just sitting. Nagato pulled up into the space next to her, idling for a moment before he pulled out, his engine whining out of the parking lot and disappearing down the road.

"Just be calm," Kakuzu instructed, shoving his hands in to his coat pockets as they approached. The car faced away from them, and Sasuke could see the look of distaste on his mentor's face in the mirror.

"Jordan," Kakuzu called when they'd reached the back of the started car. Jordan's eyes narrowed in the mirror. Kakuzu shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and scowled harshly.

"I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but get off my case," the CEO spat, turning to look up at Kakuzu as he stood near the driver's side window. Sasuke stood awkwardly next to him. Why hadn't he gone around to get in the passenger seat?

"Well first of all, I wasn't on your case, but I could be if your gonna throw a fit like some snot nosed brat," Kakuzu scoffed, fully prepared to argue with his ex-wife in public.

Sasuke watched a snarl erupted onto Jordan's face and the arm that had previously been resting on the window reached across her body, between her seat and the console, and pulled a pistol. "Call me another name you son of a bitch, I dare you."

Sasuke watched the sun glint off the silver barrel of the gun, gripped tightly between the woman's hands and held daringly out the window, in full view of the public. It had a black, ribbed grip on it's handle and a sight on the end of the barrel, but at such close range, she wouldn't need it.

Kakuzu was unafraid of the pistol pointed in his chest. He laughed. His chest shook and he laughed before he spoke. "No. Shoot me. I dare you. "

Something ripped from Jordan's throat like a roar and she threw the pistol into her passenger seat and floored her car, tearing out if the parking space and nearly taking off the front end of another car. She was gone before Sasuke could blink, sneaking out of the pay lot after another car while the gate was still up.

"That could have gone better," Kakuzu scoffed again, more to himself this time, "come on rug rat, I'll take you golfing with me. It's heated and indoors."

"I really just want to go home," Sasuke countered.

"Not with her you don't," Kakuzu chuckled darkly, digging his keys out if his pocket and threw them to Sasuke. "We're gonna be late. Scratch my car and I'll wring your neck."

Sasuke didn't gave any other choice but to catch the set of keys and cross to a less populated side of the parking lot, and drive his not-father to golf. He didn't have another choice, he'd be stuck here without a ride. Kakuzu pulled his golf shoes out of a bag in the back seat as they pulled out if the court house lot after a while lot of complaining about paying the fee.

"Sons a bitches fuck me over in taxes every year and still want my goddamn money to park in public places," the older man bitched.

Sasuke didn't respond, he just kept his eyes on the traffic as be merged on to the highway.

"And you know what else?" He continued, "that fucking jury had Konan hung before we started."

That peeked Sasuke's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, well, fuck," Kakuzu swore, "people that they call for jury duty? Like regular people, not millionaires, they hate big business. 'Think it's corrupt and greedy. Don't tell me that those people don't already have a preconceived idea of the person before they go in. Of course they do, and yeah, we are corrupt and greedy, but there was no room for the benefit of the doubt in their minds." Kakuzu scoffed, finishing with his shoes and pulling off his blazer to lay it in the back seat. He unbuttoned his dress shirt to reveal a polo underneath. "She was doomed before she set foot in the room."

Sasuke could only nod, because he knew better than to disagree with Kakuzu.

He wasn't sure about that whole idea. It sounded like a far fetched conspiracy theory. He had more faith in the justice system than that, surely anyone biased would have gotten weeded out in jury selection.

Konan was guilty, that was the end if it and guilty people went to jail.

That was justice no matter who it screwed over with it's aftermath.

It didn't matter if Itachi wasn't out of law school and the legal team at the company was little more than a joke. It didn't matter that they had huge accusations to face as a company. It didn't matter to the legal system if everyone Sasuke cared about was in danger. That was the system. That was justice.

Something did feel wrong about it though. Very wrong


	15. Chapter 15: Be The Accountant

The first week back to work in the new year could be summarized in one word: chaos.

Jordan didn't speak to him as often as she used to. She was hardly ever around in fact. Most mornings she was gone before he got up. She didn't return home until after he'd gone to bed, if she came home at all. On nights she didn't stay at Kakuzu's or wherever it was she went, she usually drug herself in around two in the morning and went straight to bed. It woke him up without fail.

He was glad it was her cleaning up the mess and not him.

She didn't involve him at all in any company work. While he recognized he wasn't learning anything in preparation to take over the company, he also recognized it was a literal nightmare made of mounting stress and completely reasonable fear. And anger, don't forget anger.

Jordan broke a heel walking in one night and nearly had an aneurism. He thought, laying in bed, that she wouldn't have even worried over it if Konan would have won.

Sasuke, on the other hand, spent the week high up in the top office, avoiding reporters and doing a lot of nothing. They had no lawyer, no one to bail them out if somebody fucked up again. No work got done. He had three papers land on his desk all week, and one was a lunch schedule.

Another of the papers was a notice of position change. The assistant schmuck under Konan had been promoted to head schmuck in her absence. The legal team was a joke, all green horns and labor relations lawyers. When he became CEO that'd be the first thing to go. He'd fire the lot of them and hire all new.

If. If he became CEO.

Everything tested his nerves. He was a ball of anxiety and between being routinely woken up every night and worrying over the company.

Sasuke drove himself to work separately now, alone, in the Jaguar. He pulled into the parking garage every morning and then took the elevator up, also alone. This first Friday of the year he hadn't spoken to his mentor at all. He had no idea where she even was.

"Mr. Takashiro," his desk phone buzzed.

He nearly had a heart attack at the sound of his secretary's voice. This wasn't good, he could tell by her tone, sounding a little panicked herself.

"Yes?" He replied, pushing the 'call' button that buzzed like a walkie-talkie back to her desk. He tried to sound as undisturbed as possible.

"Mr. Takashiro, the accountant head just called, he said he's on his way to see you," the woman replied back.

Oh shit.

Definitely not good.

Sasuke had about a minute and a half to prepare himself before his phone started buzzing, like it knew what was about to happen. Kakuzu burst through his door like a battering ram with his secretary left bewildered in his war path.

He bellowed like a bull when he spoke. The tan skin on his face tinted with the flushed embodiment of his anger, "If, you stupid, lousy, fuckass, if you could, in fact, follow simple directions, and I'd be more than happy to help you do so, could we stick to the fucking program?!"

Sasuke's mouth hung open, unsure what to say. He wasn't even sure he should speak.

The accountant walked up to the desk and shoved a stapled packet of papers into Sasuke's face. The parchment's title was in his direct line of view. It read 'KMA corporation factory expenses.'

This was about the factory, the one he'd had reopened after his meeting with Ken what's-his-face.

"Well, I needed to do that," he succeeded in not allowing a tremor to over take his flat tone.

"Could you, pray-fucking-tell," he snarled, "why?!"

"Because the department head is embezzling money. Was," he corrected himself. "His figures were extremely far off."

"We already fucking knew that!" Kakuzu was near hysterical, "we didn't care!"

He wasn't going to take this sitting down, he decided right then and there. He was the one sitting in the chair, and the chair stood for power. He wouldn't let his voice quiver and he wouldn't let Kakuzu intimidate him. Kakuzu was scary, but Sasuke was in charge. He didn't need Jordan to stand up for him. He was going to do it, for himself. After all, who was he to yell at Sasuke-fucking-Uchiha?

"I care," Sasuke said firmly.

Kakuzu looked like somebody had just lit a fuse under him. He exploded like a firecracker, his voice sparking and crackling with the shear volume. "You don't get paid to care! You get paid to look pretty! Why the fuck do you think you're here?"

"I'm here to help," Sasuke said defiantly, "I'm the assistant CEO."

Kakuzu looked barred for a moment. His face switched quickly from unadulterated anger to surprise for a moment, and then a wide smirk set on his lip. His lips curled like he was snarling, his teeth flashing and his green eyes suspicious. And then he laughed, and chills ran down Sasuke's spine.

"You think," Kakuzu started, still laughing, but not so much he couldn't speak, "you think you're here to help? You think that-that Jordan's, that she, ha! Do you honestly still believe that she's training you to take over? What, that she, she's got all the intentions oh, oh god," his laughed died off, "it's horse shit," he growled and then he screamed, saliva flung from his mouth, "It's all fucking horse shit!"

"I'm not sure what you mean?" Sasuke asked, keeping his voice level.

"You, you dense fucker! You're are going to prison!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. What?

"She's not teaching you jack shit! You aren't here to learn or do work, you're fucking here to take her fall!" Kakuzu screeched, "you, me, Kakashi, Nagato, Ken Matsumori, we're all going to hell so Jordan gets off scot free! Don't tell me you're too stupid to see it?"

Sasuke's knees shook under the desk. His hands trembled. His mouth was dry.

Kakuzu sighed deeply, and put his hand over his face and drug it down, wiping the hysteria of of his features. When he spoke again his voice was hollow. "Cause any more trouble and I'll see to it that you're the first to get convicted."

And then he left, straightening his blazer and wiping the sweat off of his brow. The doors shut dramatically behind him.

Sasuke waited a few moments until he was sure Kakuzu was gone before he went through the doors himself. He breezed past his secretary who looked fearful herself. She didn't ask where he was going and he didn't tell her. He rode the elevator down to the first floor, burrowed through the lines of reporters to the parking garage, and got into the Jaguar.

His entire body trembled. He could barely get his fingers around the door handle to let himself in.

The keys were in his pocket but he didn't start the car. His fingers went to the wheel but he didn't turn it. He leaned his forehead until it rested on the wheel, between his hands at ten and two. He took a few deep breaths, in and out, in an out, in an effort to regain control of himself. It failed, miserably. Instead of taking slow, controlled breaths turned into quick, shallow, hyperventilating gasps. His entire body quaked, and his hands fell away from the wheel to wrap around himself and fist into his blazer.

His panic attack lasted only three minutes, but they were three agonizing, terrifyingly, long minutes.

Even after he sat panting and exhausted, finally physically calm, his mind was still racing.

Jail, prison, Jordan, prison, mistakes, prison, he royalty fucked up this time, prison, prison, prison.

How could he be so stupid? He was aware she was using him, he had been from early on in the game. He was so stupid. He didn't try to stop it, he didn't try to get away, in fact, he let her pull him deeper. What? Did he think she was never going to screw him over like everyone else? Jordan used every person she came in contact with. He was too stupid to stop himself from being desecrated and thrown away for her expense. What did he think was going to happen?

And then something that dulled everything down washed over him like a wave. He was still upset, very upset, but it was getting increasingly hard to think. His limbs felt like dead weight as he got out of the car and it was all he had to drag himself back up to his office.

"Excuse me," he droned to his secretary as he passed. She looked up attentively. God, he realized he didn't even know this girls name. "I don't care who it is, make sure no one else comes through these doors. Not even you."

"Understood," she replied. She wanted to pry, he could see, but she didn't.

Sasuke shut the French doors to the office behind him like he was sealing himself away. He wanted to. He wanted to disappear. When he sat down at his desk, he turned the computer monitor off to prevent seeing anyone trying to reach him. He would have just shut the computer down all together if he'd had the energy.

His head leaned back heavily on to the leather head rest and Sasuke's eyes closed. Sasuke didn't know anyone personally who suffered from routine panic attacks and he had never experienced one himself. He had no idea it would have ended this way.

He was struggling to stay awake.

And who cared if he just fell asleep right here? Nobody. Nobody needed him, nobody, nobody, nobody. Nobody would miss him if he took a nap. He took off his shoes with his heals and he kicked them off under the desk. The chair didn't recline and his blazer made a poor blanket, but that was okay. He fell asleep, and nobody bothered him.

When he woke up, the heavy, exhausted feeling in his limbs was gone. It has been replaced with an overwhelming feeling of dread deep in his chest. The source that'd woken him was his phone, ringing insensately and vibrating in his pants pocket. By the time he'd regained his bearings it wasn't ringing anymore, but he checked it to see who called. Karin had called him four times in the last half hour. He was supposed to be home an hour ago, she probably wanted to know where he was.

He debated on not calling her back and decided that was a good idea. He then decided to just shut his phone off all together. Somehow he was sure it'd be better that way.

It was dark outside now, and the fluorescent lights above him had come on to light the room instead of the sun. Leaving his head reclined, he swiveled the office chair around to face the wall of windows behind him and looked out. The city skyline was bright tonight. It looked like the office building across the street was pulling a late night too.

Night was never really night here. All the lights dimmed the stars and lit the streets brightly. He saw a few stars from his old house in the suburbs but never here, and never at Jordan's.

He wasn't sure what to do now he realized, staring blankly out the window.

He didn't want to leave the office. It was quiet and mostly safe here. Maybe he'd just stay.

Rubbing his arm and looking down at the white floor tiles, he wondered what the fuck he was doing?

He'd thought he was so grown up once upon a time. When he was twelve and his mom let him have his own email, when he was sixteen and two years from being an adult, last year when he turned eighteen and he thought he was going to leave the house that night. Of course he hadn't, he'd waited a year and three months and Jesus Christ he was still just a kid.

He was scared.

This entire six month, wait, had it even been that long? No, it was more like four months.

This entire four month ordeal had been a colossal mistake. If he hadn't agreed to stay with Jordan, if he hadn't let her pick him up, or gone into that fast food joint or run away from home entirely, none of this would have happened.

Maybe Itachi wouldn't of come home from law school and finished on time. Maybe Sasuke would have been able to call someone, or done anything at all to save his father. Maybe his mother, who despite her drunken fits, would still treat him warmly when she was sober. Maybe she would still call him her son.

He still wasn't sure what to do, but now he regret everything.

He did something next that surprised even himself. Something he didn't think he'd do in a million years. He pulled his phone back out, turned it back on, and called his estranged brother.

Of course Itachi answered, with a crisp "hello?"

"Itachi?" He spoke, evenly, refusing to let on his situation.

"Oh, Sasuke," Itachi sounded surprised, "I hadn't looked at my called ID, I hadn't expected it to be you. Is everything alright?"

At this point Sasuke could have done two things. He could have lied, kept on with an level voiced and heavy headed façade and eventually they would have hung up. Itachi would be none the wiser. Really, he could handle his emotions if nothing else, right?

His other option was to spill his guts.

He chose the later.

"Yeah, uh, no, actually, everything's not alright," Sasuke bit his lip hard to try to keep it from quivering. He wasn't going to cry. He continued. "It hasn't been. Not since the funeral. I just uh," he paused for a moment. All those times when Itachi had come to him for support, is this what he felt like? He continued again.

"Do you remember when we were kids, and we both sat up with dad and watched that scary movie after mom went to bed? The one she told us not to watch?"

"I do," Itachi agreed.

"And do you remember when I asked to sleep with you after it was over? And," he choked out a little laugh, "and you were scared too, so you let me?"

"I remember," Itachi agreed again.

"You told me, laying there, that you'd always be there to help me? Because I was your brother?"

Something shuffled on Itachi's end of the line. "I remember that too," he agreed once more.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted, when you needed my help. I'm really sorry, okay?" Sasuke couldn't rub the tears welling in his eyes away fast enough.

"It's alright, Sasuke, don't worry," Itachi expressed genuine concern in his voice, "are you in some kind of trouble?"

"I think, I don't know," He took a shaky deep breath, "some stuff was said, and I'm not sure what to do now."

Itachi was quiet for a long time. Sasuke thought after a while he'd hung up or the call had been dropped. Then his brother spoke, firmly, in a way that made Sasuke feel safe, just like back then.

"You've done nothing wrong Sasuke. I'm sure of it. What are you so afraid of?"

If Itachi could already tell, there was no use trying to hide it. It was like a dam burst in his eyes and his chest caved in. He hushed a choked sob out of his lips and the first tear rolled down his face.

"I," he hiccuped.

"Take your time," Itachi spoke softly. Sasuke nodded even though his brother couldn't see him.

"I don't want to go to prison," he said horsely.

Itachi was quiet for a long time again, and then there was more shuffling and a sound like a book closing. Itachi sighed, and then he spoke.

"I was made to understand a few things when I received my tuition check. The first thing, on the top that list, was that no matter the cost to Jordan or anyone around her, you would get out of this situation without harm. If you'd like to see the letter, I have it, hand written from Jordan herself. I'll send you a picture if you'd like."

"I'm lost," Sasuke blurted. His hands started shaking again.

"I don't know who told you what," Itachi began, carefully and in an attempt to comfort him, "but the plans have not changed in the last week and a half since I received this letter. Your teacher and I have a mutual understanding."

Sasuke didn't reply, and he didn't wipe the tears falling down his face.

"I don't know where you are, but if you want to come here, you're welcome," Itachi offered. His brother had always come through for him. Always.

"No," Sasuke sniffed, "no, I need to go home. Thank you, thank you Itachi."

"Your welcome," he could hear his brother's smile, "I'll see you next time Sasuke. I love you."

"I love you too," he felt like he was gagging on his words, "bye."

When the phone clicked and his brother was gone, Sasuke immediately ended the call. He locked his phone and pocketed it.

The elevator couldn't move fast enough. His feet ate the ground as he power walked to the Jaguar. He slid into the driver's seat and drove out if his spot, craning his neck to look in to another spot in the garage.

A few times that week, Sasuke had gotten a look at what he thought was a Porsche. It was white and that was all he knew about it, besides the fact that Jordan drove it now. He thought it might have been Kakuzu's, since the pair of ex-lovers spent so much time together now. It wasn't in the spot he'd seen it parked this morning and he hoped it's driver was at home.

He heaved a heavy sigh of relief when he pulled into the driveway and saw it there. It was the only car there, and that made Sasuke happy. Jordan, Karin and himself were all home at the same time for the first time in an eternity.

He expected to smell food when he walked in the door, but he didn't. Instead he smelled a plug in room freshener. He could hear Karin laughing and a murmur that could only have been Jordan. He walked down the front hall and around to the kitchen. Where he saw laid out on the kitchen counter a buffet of junk food and the girls sitting at the island.

Jordan was spoon deep in a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, smiling so wide it showed her teeth. Her gaze was focused on Karin, whose nose was discolored with a smear of something that looked suspiciously like chocolate sauce. When Sasuke entered the room, their attention shifted his way. Karin's eyes lit up and she got off if the stool to meet him.

"Sasuke! Where were you?" She asked, her cheeks a little rosy.

"Just finishing up at the office," he said coolly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, alright," she accepted his answer without further prompting and moved on to the next subject, "Jordan's on a roll tonight, she keeps telling these horrible jokes, oh, God, I'm dying."

"It's true," Jordan agreed, "Karin's kind of a brown noser, you know."

Karin giggled, grabbing a napkin to wipe her nose. "anyway, this is dinner," the redhead said and then she jutted her thumb over her shoulder to the bags of chips and collection of dips, sweets and a lone bag of fast food. He fished around in the bag until he came up with one of those cheap dollar fifty burgers and unwrapped it. He grabbed a handful of chips and shoveled a misshapen piece of cheesecake next to that. This had clearly been a planned junk food gorge, not a 'whatever's left in the fridge' sort of thing.

He took a seat next to Karin at the island once she'd sat back down.

"I was just telling Karin," Jordan said, her spoon resting empty between her fingers, "all jokes aside, I think we should take a vacation, just the three of us."

"I'm all for it," Karin agreed, crunching a chip between her teeth.

Sasuke cleared his throat and took a bite of his food Instead of answering. He tried to keep his gaze down and his mouth full. He didn't answer either way when prompted. As soon as he'd finished with his meal, he excused himself to his room.

Gin, his ragdoll cat was there licking himself on the bed, and when Sasuke reached out to pet him the usually grumpy cat allowed it. Sasuke wondered if he could sense his master's distress, he was in such a rare mood. Fuji pushed open the door and joined them, curling up against Sasuke's chest. Gin eventually settled behind Sasuke's curled legs.

Sasuke amused himself with his phone for hours. He had a few games and Suigetsu was active too. The white haired boy was with his brother at a car auction and Sasuke got an update every time another car made its way up on to the block. He'd tried to contact Naruto and Juugo too, but Naruto was on a date and Juugo was with his adoptive brother.

Karin knocked on his door at eleven to say good night and she shut his light off for him when he left.

He should go to bed too. He'd already decided he was going to find something to do that took his mind off of work. After his nap though, he wasn't tired. He played with the idea of buying a set of golf clubs and taking up golf, it looked sort of fun that day he'd gone with Kakuzu. There was also a prestigious pet show going on, and that might be fun to go spectate, just as long as no one knew he was there. He was vulnerable to any blood sucking swarm of reporters no matter where he went.

He was in the middle of a through rubbing of Fuji's chin when his phone binged. Then binged again, alerting him to text messages. The first was a picture of a 1970 classic car from Suigetsu. The other was a picture of the living room TV, sent by a number he didn't know. It took him only seconds to figure out it was one of Jordan's phones.

This was childish. He wasn't going to play games with her tonight.

His phone dinged a third time, another text from the same number. This time it was photo of monogrammed coffee mugs, his and hers, with a sticky note stuck to his. It read "come talk to me."

He tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was just trying to give him some space. Either way he wasn't coming out.

She stopped pestering him shortly after, and he fell asleep an hour later.

His phone alarm went off at six am Saturday morning after he'd neglected to shut it off for the weekend. Groggily he rolled over and shut it off. He nearly squished Fuji, but the cat didn't mind and he fell back asleep until ten.

When he finally drug his pajama covered ass out of bed, it was ten thirty. He fed the cats and drug out the peanut butter for his toast while it was in the toaster. The house was quiet, both the girls had gone. Maybe he wouldn't leave the house today if he could get some peace and quiet.

He ate his toast over a paper towel and wandered around, procrastinating getting dressed until around noon. He decided to make himself a sandwich for lunch, and it was fairly evenentful. Fuji pawed at his leg, hoping for some of whatever he had, but when he dropped a chunk of turkey to her, she ignored it and meowed loudly, like he was holding out on her.

He sat back down on the couch where he was camped out with pop and the remote when his phone buzzed next to him with an incoming call. He hadn't spoken to anyone all day and he really just wanted to be left alone. He picked his phone up and looked at the number, and after discovering it was Jordan from the unknown phone. He decided to let it ring. It went through another entire cycle before it shut off and the vibrating ceased.

It picked up again not two seconds later.

He weighed his options and decided to let it ring again. If she asked he'd tell her he was sleeping.

When it went through a third cycle he decided maybe this was more serious than he'd thought. However she wasn't above being insistently annoying either. He decided if it started ringing with the arrival of a fourth call, he would answer it. A minute later when it did, he snatched it up and accepted the call.

"Hello?" He asked, he was hesitant but he wasn't trying to use a fake sleepy voice or act groggy.

"Sasuke?" It was Jordan. "Sasuke where are you?! Why didn't you answer?"

"I left my phone on the other room," he said, thinking that sounded better than asleep.

"What's wrong?" He followed up.

"Ka- ah, oh shit," she sounded panicked, "Kakuzu. I'm taking Kakuzu to the hospital. He's having a heart attack."

Sasuke's mouth fell open.

"Shit! Shit! Kakuzu, can you hear me? Shit!" Jordan screamed before he could respond.

"Shit! Fuck, shit!" She shouted.

"Jordan!" He shouted back, hoping to volley for a small part of her attention.

"Oh fucking, bloody hell!" She swore, "God damn it! Sasuke! Meet us at Mercy, okay? Oh my fucking- and hurry!"

Mercy hospital was across town, going opposite the way of the company building. Driving there was a blur. He was sitting, stunned in the living room, and then all of a sudden he was skidding to a halt in the slush at a stoplight just off the off ramp. When the light turned green he was off again, cutting off somebody when he realized he was in the wrong lane. He thought the person might have forgiven him after seeing him pull into the hospital parking garage.

He asked the woman at the ground floor help desk where Kakuzu's room was, and he rode a speedy elevator up to the eighth floor. The eighth floor was the cardiac ward, and he dodged nurses and equipment down the winding halls.

The halls here on this end of the building were dim and there was little sound besides the occasional buzz of audio from a television or someone snoring. The sign on the door to this wing had said it was 'afternoon quiet time,' probably for people trying to nap or maybe just to keep things peaceful while people tried to heal. Room eight hundred and fifty six was just up ahead to his right.

The room smelled like hospital. The entire hospital smelled like hospital, but the room in particular reeked of sterile wipes and hot machinery. If this smell could be bottled and sold as a candle they'd call it 'scrubs.' Jordan was in a chair next to the bed, and in the bed was Kakuzu.

The tan skinned man's eyes were closed and he breathed shallowly, his dark hair lain out to one side, brushed there via Jordan's fingers. He had the sheets pulled up to his neck and the blanched white of the cloth made his hair look even darker.

"They said it was caused by his high blood pressure," Jordan's voice is soft but it's raw, not gentle.

The machines buzzed and whirred and beeped. The one closest by him was a heart monitor. The jagged line across was unsteady and shallow, but it was beating, and he was breathing, and even though he was pale, there was still living flesh under the skin. There was a cannula stuck in the man's nose, to help him breath, and an IV drip of medicine was stuck in to his arm.

"They said the high blood pressure made the blood vessels, or maybe just a blood vessel? in his brain expand, but then it burst," Jordan explained, and she coughed after. Her throat hurt to hold the pain out of her voice.

"I thought you said he was having a heart attack?" Sasuke spoke in a low voice, deep and unsure.

"I just assumed he was the way he was clutching his chest," she swallowed thickly, "We got here and they said he had a burst brain aneurysm."

"Is he gonna get better?" He felt like a child.

This wasn't his father. He wasn't and he never would be. Kakuzu never tried to give him advice, he never taught him a damn thing or sent him off to school, work, whatever.

But he was like his father, in some horrible twisted way. He screamed at him a lot, he was distrustful and rude, but he'd spent time with him. He'd gone to dinner with them, spent thanksgiving and Christmas and they'd been like a family. Kakuzu had been a shitty person but also part of his family.

Jordan's eyes never left her ex-husband. She looked so tired, and so, so sad. "No."

Sasuke didn't speak, but Jordan did. He thought maybe it might help her to deal with…with…

"He never complained to me about headaches, you know? They said that's a sign. Headaches. I knew he took meds for the blood pressure thing," her voice cracked, high and hard, "but, you know something? He'd always drunk like a fish, and worked a demanding job, you know? Always. He never mentioned," she made some kind of high pitched screech, like a love bird who'd lost its mate, and she shoved her face in her hands and cried for the umtenth time.

Sasuke took his eyes off of the dying man and instead went to the sobbing woman. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her from behind, and she buried her face in the crook of his arm.

He cried too. Leaning his head on the back of hers and bit his lip to keep from making noise. The tears slid down his cheeks and on to her collar, and he stopped trying to hide the ugly cry and just lost it with her.

"He had a stroke in emergency," Jordan's voice was almost incomprehensible, "I was so scared, he was so scared."

And now he was slowly dying, with an oxygen depraved brain from a burst blood vessel caused by stress and drinking and whoever knows what else.

"They said he can't hear us, and he's not in pain," is what she said, but it sounded more like a butter knife in a blender.

Later on in life Sasuke would honest to God wonder if the little bubble of blood that popped and caused the stroke had just been two inches right or left or not directly caused the oxygen deprivation to his brain, what it would have been like. What would it have been like if Kakuzu would have laid off the booze and went golfing more often? It'd bug him for years and years later on, but this wasn't the future and the man was still dying in front of him.

The heart monitor gets flatter and flatter. Eventually it flat lines just long enough to make the machine loose it's shit before it speeds up again, his heart was frantic to save itself and keep the body alive. But the brain wasn't working with the heart anymore, and the beats per minute dropped again.

With one last sniffle, Sasuke stands up straight and pulls another chair from nearby to sit next to his mentor. Jordan stopped making those horrible howling sobs and now she was just regular crying, with tears racing each other down her cheeks. Her make up never runs, it's waterproof.

Sasuke is all done crying. He decides it's for the best.

For quiet time, the hall sure is noisy. There's people walking up and down the halls, wheels on machines and carts kinking and doctors with all kinds of different accents. When Karin shows up, no one hears her coming.

Karin has been crying already, and her makeup was not waterproof. Her mascara was a black stain down her face and her eyes were so red, and surrounded smudged black eyeliner and brown eyeshadow. Jordan stood up immediately and hugged Karin. The howling sobbing returned, only it was Karin this time.

Sasuke gave up his chair in favor of running down to the vending machine at the end of the hall. He brought Karin a bottle of water, and Jordan settled her down finally and the red head took a drink.

"Is he going to be alright?" She asked.

Jordan's face had gone from looking sad and tired to an absolute look of dread. She was going to have to tell the whole story again and break her own heart after she'd started picking up the pieces.

Sasuke wasn't going to let her.

He put a hand on Karin's shoulder and the surprised, teary-eyed girl followed his arms up to his grave face and she understood. She grimaced and her head hung down, her bands falling to shield her face as she cried again, quieter this time. Jordan didn't speak, just put her hand on Karin's and squeezed.

Everyone understood it was just a waiting game now. It could take hours or weeks but the man laying in front of them was never going to wake up again. Nobody spoke except for the nurses, who came in and asked questions, took vitals and changed the IV drip. Everybody waited for something, for it to happen. The heart monitor seemed to hint it would be sooner rather than later.

A hospital social worker came into the room and asked who was making the medical decisions. Jordan stood up and followed the woman out. Even though they'd closed the door Sasuke could still hear her when Jordan told the social worker "he told me he didn't want to be resuscitated." And then it was set in stone just like that.

They stayed in the hospital room for hours.

It had been around one when Sasuke arrived, and now it was six and all three of them were hungry. Naturally Jordan didn't want to leave. Sasuke didn't blame her. He and Karin went and ate at a nearby restaurant and brought Jordan back some greasy Coney Island food and a warm tea from a machine in a nurse's back room. They snuck in and were fairly sure no one saw them.

It had been an hour's worth of break, but not a good one. The nurses helped Sasuke drag an extra chair into the room so all three of them could sit when they got back with the food.

Nothing much happened in the hours between seven thirty and ten. They talked a little. Just a little, and it was easier to stay in the room with the silence broken and the tension lightening.

Karin fell asleep on Jordan's shoulder around ten. Sasuke didn't last much longer even with his phone to keep him interested. Naruto knew, and so did Suigetsu, so word got around and he'd gotten a flood of text messages from the group of friends telling him how sorry they were. He flipped through them Idly and nodded off soon after receiving a final message from Kiba.

His sleep was dreamless.

He was awakened at some ungodly hour past three am but the chirping buzz of a machine. It was the heart monitor, and oh lord he knew it had flatlined before he even opened his eyes. It sounded just like it did in movies.

The sound abruptly stopped and was followed by a clatter. Jordan had yanked the plug out of the wall and thrown the wires across the room, silencing the machine. His eyes focused just in time to see her do it, her own eyes brimming with tears. Next to him Karin was already crying.

Jordan's shoulders quivered and the door flung open. The nurse relaxed and the same sadness that enveloped the room covered her face too.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, and handed Jordan the clipboard she was carrying. While Jordan started writing, the nurse began pulling wires and tubes out of Kakuzu.

Sasuke let Karin pull him a little closer, in effort to help her silence her whimpering. It didn't even matter who was touching him anymore because his skin felt numb to it. hHe was to upset to feel it, but he didn't particularly like it.

The nurses were still unplugging and Jordan was still leafing through the clipboard, signing things and initialing. Then she handed it back to the original nurse she'd received it from.

"The certificate will arrive in the mail," the woman said, and there was no question which certificate she meant.

"Karin," Jordan cleared her throat, "would you get my purse please? We have to leave, I'm not staying here anymore until-," she coughed wetly, "they can't move him until stuff opens."

"Your all set ma'am," another nurse said, "you filled out all the other paperwork earlier."

The nurse understood. All the nurses understood even if Sasuke didn't right away.

Jordan nodded, as a third nurse pulled the sheet up over Kakuzu's face. It was really over.

"Come on kids," Jordan said, and her voice quivered as she spoke. She held out her hand, and Karin took it, thankfully getting off of him. Sasuke picked up Jordan's purse as the redhead clung to his mentor, and they left the room.

It'd been quick and dirty and Kakuzu had been dead all fifteen minutes and they were already leaving. No one questioned why they'd left. "Someone else needs the room" or "a medical building is no place for mourning, " something along those lines. Sasuke didn't ask, he just moved. He was also not upset to relinquish possession of the jaguar keys to Jordan.

The sky was still dark as they exited the parking garage. The sun wasn't even thinking about rising. Jordan drove, she insisted on it. Sasuke was hardly awake enough to notice when they drove past the exit they usually got off on.

"We aren't going home?" He questioned.

"No, I need to get something," Jordan replied. They were both trying to be quiet. Karin was trying to sleep in the back seat.

"Just take a nap okay? I'll wake you up when we get there," Jordan insisted. She was wide awake, her eyes wide and never left the empty road. Sasuke didn't intend on sleeping, but he woke up abruptly twenty minutes later at the gates of some big lording house he didn't recognize.

Jordan was out of the car, about a foot away, typing in a passcode on a freestanding pad. Moments later, the doors in front of him opened, slowly parting like welcoming arms to reveal a paved driveway up to the house. Jordan got back in the car moments later.

"Good morning sunshine," she said, pressing the gas through the gates. Her face was blank, her tone was emotionless.

It was three forty five and no lights were on in the house ahead of them.

"Karin, wake up," Jordan spoke, a little louder this time. The girl in the backseat groaned but sat up moments later.

The house was big, and no less than three stories. It looked old, and the architecture was Victorian in design. Sasuke couldn't see much of the outside in the pitch darkness. But the inside, once Jordan turned on the lights, was immaculate. The front door opened up to a grand staircase that split off on the second floor and disappeared to the third floor. To the right was a kitchen that looked like it belonged in a five star restaurant. To the left was a sitting parlor, with its walls lined with fine china and antiques collected over a lifetime.

Karin immediately strode down the hallway and off to the right somewhere. She practically sleep walked there so she must have prior knowledge of the house.

"Do you know who's house this is?" Jordan asked, seating herself on the steps nearby.

"It's Kakuzu's," Sasuke replied smartly. He could put two and two together.

"Sort of. This is my house, I grew up here during winters, later on in my life," Jordan grinned, and that was reassuring.

"Just during winters?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow.

"Mm," she agreed, "I let it go in the divorce but I knew it was going to come back to me one day."

She was a different sort of sad now. A nostalgic sad. He imagined the walls must be screaming, ringing in her ears. Her body and the day she'd had weighed on her. Her makeup had been almost completely rubbed off. Her supposed flawless complexion was riddled with stress creases and a few blemishes here and there.

"I've been awake for four days, Sasuke. I'm going to get to rest after this," she sighed, and hauled herself to her feet line a chore. She motioned him to follow her upstairs, and he did, grabbing the railing just in case.

The first room to the right was a study. It was crammed to the brim with books, papers, filing cabinets and a full bar of liquor in a classy glass cabinet. There was a desk in the room, covered in bottles and stained cups, and a classic wood burning fireplace, showing just how old this house really was. In front of the fireplace was a pair of ancient red velvet chairs. An end table nearby held an ashtray and more dirty cups. One of the chairs was significantly more worn than the other. Sasuke couldn't help picture Kakuzu sitting there, brooding over accounting errors with a drink in his hand.

Jordan was over in the corner of the ill lit room, rifling through a filing cabinet until she found what she was looking for. She pulled a thick paper bound file out of the drawer and went to the bar.

"I knew that bastard was holding out on me," she laughed, bitterly, and pulled a box out of the top drawer. After that she pulled a box of matched, and went to the fireplace. She lit a match and held it on the corner of the folder until it caught and then threw it into the fireplace. She didn't even watch it burn. She just went to the liquor cabinet, grabbed the extra box, and then a big bottle of whiskey.

"Do you want a cigar?" She asked, pulling one from the box herself, "he got these from Cuba, they're embargoed you know?"

"No thanks," he rejected. She shrugged and put it in the corner of her mouth anyway, and then lit it, throwing the matches in one if the chairs.

"I don't suppose you want any booze either?" She asked, using her now free hand to pop the top on the near full bottle.

Sasuke took a long second to think about it before he reached for the bottle. She let him have it and he took a long, hard, bitter swig. He grimaced as he pulled the bottle away from his lips but he swallowed.

"That's bad," he gasped, his mouth burning.

Jordan laughed, blew a cloud of smoke to the side and took a swig herself before she handed him back the bottle. He took a second swig and he followed her back downstairs.

Karin was out like a light in another sitting room in the back of the house, with windows that overlooked a massive garden. There were yard lights on over a pool and next to that a tennis court.

Jordan sat down on a couch opposite Karin. She puffed her Cigar a few more times before she ground it out on the bottom of her heal. She clearly wasn't worried about the ashes hurting the hardwood floors.

Sasuke took another drink of the bottle, starting to feel just a bit hazy. Whatever energy he'd had was gone now. He leaned against the arm of the couch as he seated himself and tried to make some sense of the bottle label.

"Here," Jordan said, and she held out a key for him to take. She'd left her purse in the car, where had she hid it?

He took it and turned it over in his hand, looking for any identifying marks as to what it went to. He realized all of a sudden that this key had once hung around Kakuzu's neck, it went to the closet that held the quick claim deeds.

He didn't thank her, he just pocketed it and took another sip from his bottle. Jordan reached for it and he passed it to her.

"Do you wanna go to sleep or do you wanna finish this off?" She asked, holding out the bottle that looked like it'd hardly been touched.

"I'm tired," he replied, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Okay," she accepted, and then she said something else, but he wasn't sure what. He was asleep before she finished speaking.

* * *

I wanted to stop here and say a big thank you to everyone following and supporting this story. I also wanna give a huge shout out to ImTheUchiha98 for reviewing on every chapter and sending me tons of encouraging notes.

I apologize for not updating last month, I'm currently in my second to last semester before I graduate with two associates degrees and college has been kicking my but lately. One mistake i made in this fic that I will correct in the rewrite, I wanted Sasuke to go to college. Everyone should go, I think, and even though it seems daunting and scary, the amount I've learned from two years is incredible.

Paste in something you're working on and edit away. Or, click the Write button to compose something new.


	16. Chapter 16: Be The Maid

Sorry for the delay people! Enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Jordan, as it turned out, had stayed up all night even while Sasuke slept. He woke up at eight, blurry eyed with booze still on his breath. He near panicked when he realized he was late for work.

Jordan was in the kitchen making pancakes when he found her. She dished him out a few, poured him a mimosa and assured him it was fine. She'd called in for the both of them, claiming they needed to make funeral arrangements.

Actually, they just laid around and got drunk all morning.

Karin didn't wake up until around noon, but then she joined the party too.

It really wasn't much of a party, actually. It was more like drink until you couldn't be sad, and Sasuke asked himself why he hadn't thought of this sooner.

The next morning, he found his answer. His hangover made him physically ill.

He laid on the floor with his head between his knees for the better part of the day. How did his parents live like this? He threw up twice and it didn't matter what he took for his headache it wouldn't go away. Eventually they had to go home. Once Jordan arrived back from work, she drove both her kids back to The Hills where they lived. On the way home, they stopped at the… The wherever they sent Kakuzu to be cremated. Jordan went in alone. Sasuke's head was still between his knees and Karin was asleep in the backseat.

When they arrived, Jordan promptly took the urn to her room and Sasuke didn't see it again.

The next morning Jordan warned him about using up all his sick days when he stayed home again. He gave her a dirty look once her back was turned. They stayed home how many times and she'd never mentioned sick days?

He chalked it up to her being stressed out.

He returned to work the next day. Not because she'd threatened him, because he felt better finally. Jordan immediately sent an email. The janitorial staff brought in the tables to conduct a meeting.

Sasuke watched executives file in. Kakuzu wouldn't be hauling himself and four hundred papers in without a minute to spare. Jordan sat at her desk, Sasuke sat to her right and Kakashi sat across from him.

"So," Jordan began, rubbing her temples, "I'm just gonna lay it on. Konan isn't coming back, Ken is in dispose, and accounting is threatening to strike now Kakuzu is dead."

"They aren't union," the head of the expansion committee muttered.

Papers shifted. Jordan closed her clouded eyes and sighed.

"No, they aren't," she concluded.

"Fire them," somebody else suggested.

"If we do that, everybody will freak," Kakashi grumbled, "wild cat strikes are tricky. If we fire them, everybody else will fear for their jobs. If we let them strike, it'll look bad on us."

"This is management's fault," another voice from the crowd laid down their two cents worth.

Everybody knew who management was, everybody knew he was dead. Nothing could be done about that now.

"We should have caught this before," the same voice added.

Jordan's face scrunched up and she pulled out a drawer to retrieve some aspin.

"We should have caught a lot of things before," Kakashi concluded and the table was silent.

Nagato, who had been quiet up until now glanced down at his phone and froze. Sasuke saw his sickly pale face light up with a notification and then he looked up. He glanced at Jordan and then swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Jordan," he said, like his tongue was made of sandpaper.

She glanced over at him but she didn't get a chance to speak.

The French doors that held so many secrets away from the outside world burst open. A swamp of police mobbed the room, securing exits, guns drawn and tasers at the ready. Some of the other executives stood, only to be pinned down right away. Nobody could run, nobody could hide. Kakashi stood just as soon as he realized what was happening, and calmly put his hands behind his back.

It was a slurry of words, "you have the right to remain silent" bled into "can and will be used against you" and bled into outraged shouts of "you are going to hear from my lawyer!"

Over the top of this all, Jordan was screaming.

"You can't do this to me! You can't come in here! Where is your warrant! I want to see a warrant!" She screamed. Two men were on her, one shoving a paper in her face, the warrant. The other was unsuccessfully trying to pry her from her office chair.

"You stupid sons a bitches! Get your hands off me!"

Kakashi was gone, as were the majority of the other department heads. Nagato had been forced out of his chair, but he was calmer in custody. There was a man reading him his rights. Another adjusted his cuffs after the sickly man complained. He looked back at Sasuke as they lead him out.

Jordan was struggling. He wanted to go to her, but at the same time he didn't even want to exist in the same space as her. Her teeth grit and she shrieked in frustration as the chair fell away from her. The police man forced her to her feet. She looked like a trapped animal, furious and ready to fly. The policeman had her hands bent behind her back. She struggled, moving her hands to it was impossible to cuff her.

Finally the man just threw her down on to her desk, spilling her coffee and bending her body in half. He pressed up against her, to use his body weight to subdue her.

He had her bent over like a bitch.

"You pig! I'll have your job for this!" She growled as the cuffs finally closed on her.

There was a presence to his right, and when he looked over, another policeman was standing there.

"Let's go, son," he said, deep voiced and slow.

Sasuke's heart beat fast. He looked over to Jordan, for help, he needed help, but they were reading her rights and she was preoccupied.

He couldn't run.

Slowly, he stood up, and put his hands behind his back. The policeman was mostly gentle when he slid the handcuffs closed in his wrists.

"I want a lawyer," he said thickly. He wanted his mom. Or his brother.

"You'll get one," the cop assured.

They left the building calmly, taking the elevator down after Jordan.

There was a sea of reporters outside the building, but the police held them off. It looked like Noah's ark, coming out of the building. Cameras flashed like lightning, bodies were a flooding earth. Ahead of him, people walked two by two. A cop with their criminal, loading them into cars like they were the haul of a ship. Somebody had strapped a bullet proof vest to Nagato.

Jordan was still shouting. Her voice was harsh and horse.

"Don't you say anything! None of you fucks say anything! You double cross me, I'll end you!"

They loaded her into a car, still kicking and screaming. The car hardly muffled her.

Sasuke stepped up and the white car door opened for him. Konoha Police it read.

This was ironic.

If his father could see him now.

"Duck," somebody said, and a hand pushed his head down so he wouldn't bump it as he slid into the back seat. A man got into the front seat and they left the company building, driving downtown to the jail.

Sasuke's chest was tight. His breaths felt labored.

Don't panic. He couldn't afford to panic, not now. He took a few deep breaths and held himself together with what scraps of his Uchiha dignity he had left.

Booking was a nightmare.

He couldn't see anybody else. They'd all been taken in before him.

Cops milled around everywhere. They patted him down, took his personal items, took his weight and height and fingerprints. Then slung him in a cage. He didn't know how long he'd been there. He couldn't see a clock.

Nobody ever even came to interview him. When he asked, the woman just said he was being detained. When he asked about that, she didn't have an answer. The secretary just walked away.

By his best bet, Sasuke had spent about four hours here. There were no windows, but everybody was back from lunch, which was typically taken at noon. The cinder blocks in the six by five foot room were painted a cream color. Unlike the movies, the front of the cell wasn't bars. It was some kind of shatter proof glass on top with more cinder block on the bottom.

The floor was concrete, grey and blank but uncracked and it sloped down to a drain in the middle of the room.

He'd been in his work clothes all day, sitting on a bench so narrow it made his ass hurt.

Konan wasn't coming to argue his way out. Kakuzu wouldn't be here with bail money. Jordan wasn't even here to talk to.

She'd been charged with a slew of things. He'd overheard somebody talking about it. Fraud, insider trading, and illegal game rigging. He wondered where they'd found out about the baseball games. That made him want to puke.

He reveled in the realization he was utterly fucked beyond recognition, beyond saving.

He was out of resources, out of people, out of time.

He was oddly calm about this, he realized. Maybe it was because he'd known, deep down, this day would come. Somebody's double crossed somebody else and the cat was out of the bag. The company was a wash.

His entire life had tested on the edge of this not happening. Maybe it was just all to prepare him for this moment.

He sat there for a few more hours before somebody came and opened up his door.

"You're free to go," the uninformed policeman told him.

"What?" He asked, unmoving.

"You were being detained," the man explained, "chief thought maybe you knew something." The man laughed.

"Get outta here, kid. You're not no use to us."

Sasuke got up, hesitantly, and walked out of the room. This was too good to be true.

There was some shuffling of papers after that. He didn't have to sign anything but people signed off on him. His belongings were returned.

He just stood at the front desk when the lady behind it told him he was all set. Nobody else was let loose, just him. It was a relief and a burden.

He stepped outside of the county jail, found a nearby fast food joint, and had a panic attack in their bathroom.

After he was all done, and mostly calm, he called Suigetsu and Naruto. It took them longer than it should have to get to him. After sitting in the back seat of Suigetsu's truck for a while, he felt like he could hold it together.

He operated on auto-pilot, directing Suigetsu back to the company parking garage. Sasuke gave Naruto the keys to the Jaguar. Hefound a spare key to the Porsche after opening the gas tank hatch, just laying there next to the gas cap.

Suigetsu followed them back to the house but promptly left right after. Naruto stayed with him though, and he lead the way in to the safety of the house.

The news was on when the boys entered. Sasuke couldn't see the TV but he could hear it, blaring so loudly he couldn't hear himself think.

"Coming back to our main story tonight," the local anchor said, "local company Katzuki Manufacturing CEO arrested today, along with many other top ranking officials."

Oh. Of course that garbage was on. Sasuke strode quickly into the living room. He expected to see Karin clutching her cell phone and in the fetal position, but the couch was empty. Sasuke knew for a fact she'd been here all day, alone.

What was going on here? He muted the TV before he called her name through the house.

"Karin?"

Naruto followed him into the room, silent for once in his life. Other than the sound of his shoes on the hardwood, the house was quiet. Where was Karin?

"Karin?" He called again.

"Sasuke?" Her voice shouted from down the hall. He ducked his head down the hallway just in time to see her emerge from her room.

"Sasuke!" She exclaimed, rushing to him, dropping the hairbrush she was holding to envelop him in a hug. "I saw what happened! I was so worried for you, and Jordan, and, oh, Christ, I've been in tears all morning!"

She drew away, still holding his shoulders. Sasuke couldn't help but notice her eye makeup was near perfect.

"I haven't heard shit," Naruto interjected, cracking his neck, "what's going on? How'd you wind up in jail?"

Sasuke exchanged glances with Karin before he spoke.

"Jordan is," he paused to think of the right word, "accused of committing a bunch of crimes. I'm pretty sure the entire office is in deep shit."

"What about you though? They let you off?" The blonde asked. He looked so weird without a smile on his face. It was unnatural.

"They told me I was being detained," Sasuke sighed, looking from one Uzumaki to the other, "I think I'm alright now. I've still got to call my brother about Jordan."

"Sasuke, I think you should just take a second," Naruto insisted, coming forward to rest his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Your brother can wait for you to chill out a minute."

Sasuke ripped away from him violently, almost stumbling back.

"This cannot wait," he snarled.

"Hey, asshole! I'm trying to help you!" Naruto argued, his brows furrowing and his nose wrinkling.

"I don't need help. I need a goddamn phone charger!" The uchiha barked, "Jesus! The fucking world is ending and you want me to wait a second? I knew you were an idiot but I didn't think you were this big of an idiot!"

"Oh? The world is ending? If you weren't so stuck up Jordan's ass, you could see with your own goddamn eyes the world is fine!"

There was a lot of shock value to those words, but Sasuke didn't let it show.

Karin placed a reassuring hand on his lower arm. She flinched when he tensed up.

"Oh, man, sorry you guys," Naruto huffed, "sorry for yelling when you're both all stressed out."

"He needed to hear it," Karin replied, almost apologetically. She wouldn't meet Sasuke's gaze. Sasuke pulled away from her touch.

"Alright, fine. Order us a pizza or something, Looser," Sasuke directed at Naruto. The blonde was yanking his phone out of his pocket before Sasuke could turn away. He stalked off, headed for his bedroom.

He shed his shirt as soon as he shut the door, throwing it in a hamper that was, surprisingly, almost half full. His wrinkled pants joined it, and so did his socks. He felt like an idiot. He'd forgotten to take his shoes off at the door. He set them next to his bed to take care of later.

Buried in his closet he found the hoodie he'd been wearing the night Jordan picked him up off the street. He hadn't known it was still here, actually. He ran his fingers over the holes he'd cut in the sleeves for his thumbs and over a frayed hem. Without any more debate, he slipped it on with a pair of basketball shorts.

He deserved to be comfortable after the day he'd had.

He cracked the door open, listening to the rest of the house.

The TV was still on, but the channel had been changed and the volume had been turned down. Naruto had gotten off the phone already, and he conversed quietly with his cousin. Their conversation was nothing special.

Sighing, he closed the door again.

He pulled his phone out of the pocket of his dirty slacks, plugging it in for a couple minutes while he sat on his bed.

It was quiet in here. This place felt like a sanctuary, Taylor made just it him.

When he checked his phone again, the battery meter read ten percent. He supposed that was enough for a phone call. Itachi was at the top of his contacts.

The phone rang through four revolutions before his brother answered.

"I am at work," Itachi hushed. His tone was stoic.

"Have you seen the news?" Sasuke asked, matching his brother.

"Yes, I'm sorry ma'am, I'll be right with you," Itachi said, and then returned his attention to his brother. "No, I haven't."

"Everyone was arrested," Sasuke summed it up.

There was some shuffling around on the other end. "Where are you now?"

"At home. As in Jordan's house," Sasuke answered, "I was being detained or something."

"You were either being detained or you weren't," Itachi snorted. "They didn't tell you why they were holding you?"

"Not when I asked, no. They did later," Sasuke replied.

"Do you think this line is tapped?" He followed up.

That was a hard question. Nagato had never mentioned anything regarding his phone. He also could never be completely sure about these things.

"I don't know."

Itachi sighed heavily before he continued speaking. "You need to lawyer up until I graduate. As your legal counsel I'm telling you to spend some of that money of yours and hire the best lawyer you can. As your brother, I'm telling you not to hire the same lawyer as Jordan and don't bail her out until you have one."

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted through the house, "where are you, you gigantic douche!?"

"I have to go," Sasuke huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Me too," Itachi agreed. "I'll call you tomorrow when I know more."

"Bye," Sasuke bid.

"Bye."

And then the call ended.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted again.

"I'm coming," Sasuke groaned. He scrubbed his eyes with his hands, and left his room.

Karin had moved her rabbit cage into the living room when Sasuke emerged. He had heard it mentioned that she had a pet, but Sasuke had never seen the rabbit in person. It was hard to tell if the rabbit was white with black markings, or black with white markings. Either way, it had very clear, defined lines where color stopped and started on its back. It's head and ears were black, with a white blaze running from its nose to its forehead. Karin was petting it as it sat perched on her lap.

"Wanna pet her, Sasuke?" The redhead offered. "She's really soft."

"That's okay," Sasuke rejected, and settled in the chair nearby.

"She's cute though, right?" Karin inquired.

Sasuke shifted in his seat. He'd hung around Jordan enough to know when somebody was up to something.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"She's a Dutch rabbit," Karin continued, "they're easy to keep. She gets one scoop of rabbit food a day, and drinks from her water bottle, and I give her little compressed hay cubes. And she's so friendly. She even uses a litter box."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. What was she telling him all this useless information for? Was she nervous?

"Hey, so what are we doing while we wait for pizza?" Naruto interrupted, flopping down next to Karin, between her and Sasuke.

"Taking a nap," Sasuke suggested half heartedly, rubbing his temples.

"Bo-ring!" Naruto practically sung, "let's play 'never have I ever.' "

"I'm your fucking cousin!" Karin objected, smacking him on the arm.

"What?" The blonde questioned, "what? Oh, ew! You pervert, not like that!"

"You're the pervert!" The redhead argued.

Sasuke sighed. "Never have I ever traveled outside of the city."

The uzumaki kids exchanged glances. Naruto broke out one of his famous shit eating grins and folded down a finger.

"As long as this stays G rated," Karin muttered, folding down a finger too. "Never have I ever got in trouble for drinking."

Naruto folded down a finger, and only Naruto. He had to get her back for that one.

"Never have I ever drank so much I puked!" Naruto smirked. Sasuke and Karin both folded down a finger.

"Never have I ever learned a foreign language," Sasuke didn't get either of them with that.

The pizza came eventually, and the game paused for cheese and crafts a cardboard with crust. They picked it right back up on greasy fingers right after finishing. Sasuke was the first out, and Naruto won the first round. Ten fingers turned into twenty, and then thirty, and it was eleven thirty. Naruto had to get up and get to his college classes, so he claimed the couch after Karin took her rabbit back to her room.

Sasuke hung out a while longer, trying to watch television, but it was a bit hard to behind closed eyelids. He was falling into a dreamless sleep before he knew it.

It was tough to sleep sitting up. He woke up once in a strange position and shifted helplessly. He was exhausted, but his nerves refused to calm themselves. He heard every bump and creak of the house.

He'd convinced himself he was alright. It was dark in the house, and safe, so anything he thought was wrong was just his mind playing tricks on him. He just closed his eyes again and fell back asleep.

He ignored everything until the floorboards creaked in a familiar way and he couldn't ignore it anymore. He cracked his eyes open.

Through the dark, he could see Karin's short frame moving. He knew it was her by the shape of her shoulders. Besides, she was the only other person in the house besides Naruto, and he was passed out on the couch. Why she was moving towards the door?

"Karin?" He muttered sleepily, sitting up to prop his shoulders up on the arm if the chair.

"Sasuke, shhh. Don't wake Naruto," she hushed.

"What are you doing?" He asked, skidding his feet off the foot rest to touch down on the floor.

"Nothing. I'm not doing anything. Go back to sleep," she insisted.

"Are you going somewhere?" He questioned. He pulled his phone off the table and checked it, looking for missed calls from his brother. Squinting through the brightness, he saw there were none, and then he checked the time.

"Jesus, it's like three am, what are you doing?"

"Just go back to sleep," she pressed.

Naruto mumbled something in his sleep and turned over, barring his face in the blanket. Sasuke exchanged a glance with the redhead he shared a space with. Not wanting to wake his best friend, Sasuke stood and followed Karin outside.

The air was cold, and the sky was pitch dark. The moon had already begun its sinking dissension. Almost all the lights were out in the neighborhood, even the street lights.

Sasuke could hear the Porsche running, and he could see the steam from the tailpipe.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time," Sasuke said sternly, "are you going somewhere?"

He looked over at the red head and realized, even in the low lighting, she was dressed warm, in long sleeves. Her hair was done too. Karin stood silently, her gaze ten million miles distant. She shifted her weight from one side to the other, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Never before had Sasuke seen the girl so careful about her answer.

When she did speak, Sasuke could hardly believe the words that came out of her mouth.

"I have a really nice family," she began thoughtfully. "This one and my biological family. My mom is a journalist and my dad is an accountant. Both my parents are really involved in their church."

"That's not a problem. I believe in God too. But I also believe in doctors. They don't believe in doctors, and that was fine. They can believe in whatever they want. It doesn't bother me until it effects me," she continued.

"One day I got too sick to go to school. I thought it was just the flu, but when it got worse I didn't know what to do. my mom just wanted me to pray. I've been friends with Sakura forever, and she told me I should go downtown to a teen help center where she got her birth control. So she skipped and together we went down there."

"It was all secret. And even though she probably could have helped me, I didn't want to go to my aunt Kushina because I thought she'd tell my parents. I was only fifteen."

He watched her take her hair out of her coat, long and stick straight.

"So, I was sitting in the waiting room, waiting to see a doctor when I passed out. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. I had a rash over my entire body, a fever of one hundred and four, and swelling in my brain. Turns out I'd never been vaccinated for the measles."

"Jordan showed up right after my parents did. They were so pissed off and they wanted to pull me out of the hospital. But she called her lawyer and I got a social worker. After that and the process of getting legally emancipated went pretty quick."

"My parents had already kicked me out, and then I wound up here with Jordan. I had no idea she was the owner of the help center until weeks after. She visited me every day in the hospital. She was a better parent to me in two weeks than my real mother had been in fifteen years," she grinned sort of sadly and took her ponytail off of her wrist and tied her red hair up in a messy bun.

"She said she liked my tenacity, and she wasn't mad when the company gave me a nervous breakdown. She pays me for doing a few chores, writes it off, and then hands me money. Not to mention she gave me a copy of all of her credit cards. She's around to spend time with. She taught me to cook. She's paying for my online classes. I can't imagine a world where she's gone."

"She's not gone," Sasuke spat bitterly.

Karin never spared him a glance.

"What the fuck are you gonna do? Go back with your parents?" He hissed. He was angry.

She was a traitor now, as far as he was concerned. How could she abandon Jordan?

"I'm not ever going back with them!" Karin growled, jerking away from him, "and don't you worry about what I'm gonna do."

There were no sting to her words. She wasn't angry, just defensive.

Sasuke could only stand there for so long. He was cold, and it wasn't like the Porsche was going to run out of gas. Karin didn't speak again, she just stood there. She stood there like she was ignoring him. He knew standing there on the front steps was the only thing holding her here.

It only took a few moments, but he just stopped giving a shit.

He turned around, went back into the house, and he heard the Porsche's engine rev as it pulled away.

He sat back down in the chair. He put his feet up on the coffee table. He pulled the blanket back over him, and resolved he'd probably never see her again. He went back to sleep.

After Naruto left the next morning, Sasuke got on the phone with the three best lawyers in town. He choose the one who promised him a tenure employee without having to interview about his case.

He just needed it as a security blanket anyway. Itachi was going to graduate in a few weeks. Like, twelve weeks. He could wait that long, couldn't he? He hoped so.

Jordan had lawyered up too. He didn't speak to her, but he saw her on TV.

Sasuke got up every morning in that big empty house and watched the news. He went to work and put out fires, ate, watched the news again, came home, and slept. He'd never lived alone before and he didn't like it.

The office was hell. He was the only one left in charge and everything was up to him. He stopped sitting in his office all day. Instead he was roaming the building, talking to people. Helping. The day he was arrested, accounting had been threatening to strike. He spent two afternoons in meetings, but he prevented it. He increased leniency. He promoted people, he made real, physical plans with real physical numbers.

His workers liked him.

He also felt like he was ready to pass out while he watched the evening news. Jordan's trial stalled. It took two weeks to even get her a bail hearing. The lawyers she had hired were either yelling at news reporters, yelling at each other, or yelling at the judge.

Her bail was set for ten and a half million, and some way or another she paid it as soon as she could. He watched her, live, walking out of the building. She was flanked by her chief legal counsel, blonde haired woman with big boobs. Senju, Sasuke thought her name was. Another, shorter woman followed behind her, an assistant.

They refused commentary.

Sasuke's phone never rang. She didn't need him to come get her. She was only about a half an hour away, a little more with all the traffic. Sasuke wasn't looking forward to her coming home.


End file.
